Faithful Faith
by NY GE Pyromaniac
Summary: Basically the same as the book. I just added TwoBit's sister, who I named Faith, into the plot and had her hook up with Johnny. Plot continues a few years after the book. Somewhat differnet from the book but only a lil bit. See if u like it.
1. First Kiss

Fanfiction- **_Faithful Faith_** rated -M

Category: Book- **_The Outsiders _**

Ch. 1 - First Kiss

_**Johnny's POV**_

"Git! Git!" yelled my mom as she came at me with a broom and Two-Bit tried to fend her off by yelling obscenities at her and cussing her out under his breath. I had no problem leaving at the moment because I had just had the wind knocked out of me by my old man because I walked across his field of vision while he sat there watching some Mickey Mouse show. My lip was now bleeding and I was jumping out of the way of the broom my mom was trying to jab me with.

Hey! Mrs. Cade, calm down! He's gone! He's gone!" yelled Two-Bit as I fell onto my butt and moved as fast as I could toward the street.

"And don't you come back! Ya hear? Git!"

Two-Bit and raced down the street and down to the old vacant lot, which is where Two-Bit's sister, Faith, was hanging out with some greaser girls. We ran to them and she immediately asked, "What did you do, Two-Bit?"

Two-Bit looked taken aback by her question and asked, "Why do you immediately assume that we did something?"

"Because I know you, Two-Bit. I know you always run when you do something."

Two-Bit nodded sheepishly and said, "Okay, but why did you ask what _I_ did and not what _Johnny_ did?"

She merely smiled at both him and I as I caught my breath and she said, "Because Johnny's not stupid enough to do the shit you do, Two-Bit, and even if he was I'd still know that you dragged him into it."

Two- Bit laughed and said, "Yeah, true," while he pulled his sister into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He loved her so much because she was the only person in his life who never betrayed, judged or hurt him. She loved him back because he was the only person (directly related to her or not) who'd always been there for her when she needed him.

"You want ice cream?" two-Bit asked her, but all the other greaser girls (so different from Faith) had yelled in approval.

Faith nodded as she let go of her brother and said, "Sue…. Oh my God! Johnny, what happened to your lip?" She faced me and pulled her pure white bandana off of her head, wadded it up and pressed it gently against my lip as she wiped away the blood that had dripped down my chin. Barely above a whisper so that only I could here it she asked, "Your old man get to you again?"

We started walking across the lot as I said, "Yeah. He got me real good with that wedding ring of his." I grabbed the bandana, now stained with deep red blood, and let her put her hand down and walk straight across the lot. We fell a little behind as Julia and Diane both hooked their arms in each of Two-Bit arms, and laughed as they did so.

Faith sighed and I looked at her. She had eyes of the loveliest shade of green, hair so long that it fell past her backside in ringlets of a mix of brown, red, orange and dirty blonde, and the face of an angel. I've known Faith since before I could remember and I've always seen her this way: as the only greaser girl younger than me, who wasn't in to cussing, smoking or drinking, (though she did it once in a while just to prove that she's Two-Bit's sister) and who was actually a very decent girl who wore decent clothes like the Socy girls. But you could tell she was a greaser when you got her ticked off. Man, when she was ticked off the greaser in her came out causing her to use every single curse word she knew and even go as far as snatching Two-Bit's blade and using it to scare the ghosts out of a couple of Socs who'd tried to rape Julia one time. She was only twelve at the time but she ended up scaring those Socs so bad with the blade and loud mouth that they ran away, apologizing to Julia as they did so. We've seen them around every once in a while, but if Faith was there with us they'd just nod at her and drive on by.

"Johnny?"

"Hmm? Yeah?"

"You okay? And I mean _you_ not your lip. Are you okay?"

I looked her in the eyes, trying to see if she was scared or worried even though I already knew that she was. She was _always_ scared and worried for the gang, but mostly for me. Maybe it was the fact that I was beaten or maybe it was that one time that I broke down after being jumped by those Socs…maybe it was both, but the fact remained that she always seemed to look after me the most, which seemed kind of funny because she was thirteen and I was sixteen.

We'd stopped walking now and were now staring into each other's eyes as the wind howled and blew her hair into her eyes. She didn't blink, but just stared at me as she waited patiently for an answer.

That was one of the things I liked most about her. She was very patient and sweet and loving and just basically the girl I wanted to be with. It's strange for a greaser to feel this way about a girl, but Faith wasn't just some girl; she was the who I'd give her first kiss and the girl who'd grown up with the gang and knowing that we all loved her, but also knew that I had loved her in a different way from the others. She knew it and she was cool about it. She didn't go and tell Two-Bit or go and show off to her friends; she just showed me it was okay to love her in that way by always loving me back the same way. She told me that she felt that way on the day of her thirteenth birthday and ever since then I've been waiting for the right time to kiss her.

_I guess that now is as good a time as ever_, I thought as she just stood there, looking at me, love showing in her eyes and beautiful features. I leaned forward and pushed back her hair so that I could kiss her. I kissed her, and every single one of my nerve endings tingled with excitement and passion.

She brought her hands to my shoulders and then snaked her arms around my neck as mine wrapped themselves around her waist. She kissed back harder and so did I and we stayed like that until we both needed air and had to let go.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said and smiled.

She smiled back and kissed me before grabbing my hand and pulling me all the way to where Two-Bit, Julia and Diane were, which was up the block.

When we reached them Two-Bit asked, "Where'd the two of ya go?"

"Umm," was Faith's semi-nervous answer as she grinned mischievously.

Julia and Diane giggled and pointed at out interlocked hands while they whispered amongst themselves. Diane stopped he giggles long enough to say, "If you were to ask me, I could tell you where they were. Look at their h-"

We pulled our hands apart quickly and Faith used hers to cover Diane's mouth before she finished her thought, which came out muffled.

Two-Bit stared at his sister perplexedly for a minute, but then he whipped his head around toward some yells we heard coming from across the street.

I followed suit and saw some Socs being chased by Soda and Darry, and I could hear Steve and Dally running toward them too.

Two-Bit turned to Faith and the other two and said, "Go home…. I don't want you involved in this. C'mon, Johnny."

Faith nodded and said, "Okay. See ya…. 'Bye, Johnny."

I was nervous at the sight of the Socs (I always was), but I got over it. Ponyboy must've been in trouble because Darry looked ticked off as he walked back toward a still lump on the ground. As I began to run toward them with Two-Bit, I waved a goodbye to Faith as she and the girls ran to the house just up the block.

Ponyboy was okay at and all but he looked a little shaken up, which was understandable because I knew what it was like to be jumped. I still think Darry came down a little too hard on him. I mean if I was Darry I'd go easy on Ponyboy…he just got jumped. Be easy.

"Darry, lay off," Soda said and he did.

Dally eventually asked us if we wanted to go to the Nightly Double tomorrow night and everybody except for Ponyboy and I had something to do (Two-Bit said he might be getting crocked but if he wasn't he'd show) so it was just Dally, Ponyboy and myself going to the Nightly Double tomorrow. I personally couldn't wait because tomorrow was Friday and on Fridays my old man figures 'What the heck? Live a little' and raids the liquor cabinet. I didn't want to be around when that happened.

So when everybody left, I just went with Two-Bit to his place and stayed the night. Mrs. Matthews didn't mind…she never did because she knew what kind of home I came from and she was the one who insisted that I stay so that I'd be safe. I felt like I was her son instead of my mother's and she'd always tell me that she saw me as her own son. I liked that and so did Faith because if it were anyone else she'd flip out ion her mom and because she was positive that her mom liked me and would have no problem with how she felt about me and how I felt about her. I knew what she meant by it, but I thought differently about it: I thought her mom would flip out on me when she found out about me even kissing her only little girl. It's all kind of funny if you think about it…like one of those old time Mary-Sue movies – boy and girl love each other, but mom/dad is against it and boy and girl go and do something crazy to prove their love, parents freak out but then end up understanding how they feel and let them be together and then everything is okay…. See? Funny.

Sometime in the middle of the night I was lying awake on the Matthews' couch, re-thinking the Mary-Sue theory (maybe it wasn't like that…. Mrs. Matthews always said that she wanted a guy like me for Faith…but then again mothers always say one thing and mean something else) when they kitchen light switched on and I heard the faucet being turned on; then the water was being caught in a glass.

_Faith,_ I thought to myself as the water poured. _Still waking up in the middle of the night…. Poor kid._

I got up and went to the kitchen to make sure that she wasn't crying like she used to whenever she'd wake up in the middle of the night from a headache induced dream she had. She was gulping down a tall glass of water when I said, "Hi."


	2. Dreaming Tragedies and Going Steady

Thanks to swayzestyle713 and MacKenzie for the reviews. Glad you like the first chapter. Here's the next. Enjoy! L8taz!

Ch. 2 - Dreaming Tragedies and Going steady

_**Faith's POV**_

I swallowed the last gulp of water and said, "Hey."

Johnny had appeared in the kitchen, looking worried and kind of groggy.

"What's the matter? Can't sleep?" I asked as I put the glass down and walked over to him. "Or did I wake you?"

"No, you didn't wake me…. I was just thinking about something and then I heard the water running and I knew it was you…. I just wanted to make sure you were okay because…well, you remember what used to happen when you'd wake up around this time," he said softly, pushing his thick, greaser hair out of his eyes and giving up as it fell right back down.

_Oh my God! He remembered…. I told him about this two years ago,_ I thought as I remembered telling Johnny about my headache induced dreams about horrible things, which usually meant something awful was going to happen and also telling him that I used to wake up crying when I had them. He was the only person I'd ever told about this…_ever_…. He was the only person I trusted enough to tell…. I never even told _Two-Bit_, who I love so much and can tell everything to without having to even think twice about it, but I couldn't put that on Two-Bit because he'd immediately either tell mom or get a doctor…and I don't need a doctor. God bless Two-Bit's heart and love for me, but this was one thing that didn't need his involvement, but only mine and someone who'd dig my situation.

Johnny was that someone. When I told him about it, I'd only had three dreams and after each dream, something bad always happened to someone from the gang. At first he thought it just a coincidence, but when the fourth dream rolled around and he was jumped by those Socs and tore up by those rings, he changed his mind and periodically checked on me and spent hours with me to keep me from getting a headache and dreaming those dreams that made me cry.

"No, I'm okay…at least I stopped crying…."

"Yeah, that's a relief, but it's kind of a step back that you're having dreams again."

"Yeah…. Well, what can ya do?"

Johnny shrugged and walked over to me saying, "We can talk like we used to….

_That_ seemed to keep the dreams at bay."

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, it did."

He grinned and we sat down at the kitchen table to talk.

"So, how've you been?" he asked, almost nervously.

_That's calm – cool – and – collected Johnny for ya._

I smiled and said, "You mean since you last saw me four hours ago? Oh, I've

been okay. Could be better. How 'bout you? Did you have any dreams while you slept?"

He laughed and continued with the joke. "Oh, you know, same old wet dream about you…. You know, the one where you wear that little red number I told you about…. Yeah, that one always used to slay me, but now there's a new one where we're in school, waiting for everyone else to get there and then all of a sudden – you're naked and on top of my desk…."

_Man, this kid can come up with some good ones. Or maybe it's for real…. Maybe he really _does_ dream those things,_ I thought as I smiled and said, "And?"

He smirked mischievously and said, "You're too young to hear the rest…. It gets really physical."

I laughed and he said, "No, I'm just kidding. You're worth more to me than just sex."

My heart gave a great leap at that and I smiled at him. "You're sweet, Johnny."

He smiled and said, "So, for real now, how are you?"

I sighed and said, "…I dunno…. I mean on one hand I'm doing good …_really_ good actually and that kiss between you and I this afternoon – it just made things better and put things in perspective for me. Now I know that you're aching as bad as I am to be together and I feel (if possible) more comfortable around you…. But then on the other hand…this dream was bad, Johnny, …_bad_."

Concern shown in his big black eyes as he tilted his head to the side and asked, "What happened in it?"

I thought about the dream that had woken me up and God, help me, I tried so hard to hold it together so Johnny wouldn't worry about me, but I failed. Tears blurred my vision and dripped down as I stared into Johnny's loving eyes. Soon sobs rocked my body and Johnny was pulling me into his warm embrace. You know, for a kid who's about this thick (picture two fingers about ten to twelve inches apart) and has no muscular build, Johnny could really make me feel safer with him than I feel even with Two-Bit sometimes.

"Shh…. It's okay, baby, it's okay. Don't cry, " he said, and I knew he wanted to say that it as just a dream but he knew that it wasn't just a dream…. It was like a premonition or something of the sort.

In a few minutes, I had pulled myself together and was telling him about the dream. "It started off with me sitting in the living room, reading a book, when in comes Dally. He screams at the top of his lungs about something or other of him losing someone or something. I wasn't paying attention because I was too into the book I was reading. Anyway, Dally just kept rambling on about his loss and then he mentioned your name so I decided to start paying attention and when I turned to him…you won't believe this…he was crying, Johnny, _crying_…. I asked him what had happened and he just stared at me for a minute before doubling over, screaming your name and then he hit the floor and died…. Then, from there, I was transported to the vacant lot and there you were with the gang…but there was something different about you…I can't quite put my finger on it, but you had something different about you…. Anyway, you stepped up to me and told me not to forget and to always love, and then you burst into flames, yelling and screaming and then I woke up."

Johnny was staring at me, his mouth slightly open, with a mixture of shock, confusion and fear on his handsome, lost puppy that's been kicked too many times features. "Wow," he said, sitting up and pushing his hair back out of his eyes.

And then it hit me. "That's it! Your hair was cut…and come to think of it…so was Pony's, only his was blonde."

He gave me a 'huh?' look and said, "Whoa! Ha! Ponyboy with short, blonde hair. What's next? Socs siding with greasers?" He chuckled and then said, "Listen, Faith, I know you're scared because something always happens when you have one of these dreams, but you can't take too much of it to heart because, who knows, maybe this one has nothing to do with us."

I nodded and said, "Maybe you're right…. I need to calm down."

Johnny bit his lip, which I always thought was cute, and grabbed my hand saying, "Come here. I wanna show you something." He pulled me to my feet and to the front door. We stepped out into the cool night air and just stood on the deck for a minute before Johnny said, "Ain't they pretty? They remind me of your eyes."

"What?"

"_They_ do," he said, nodding up at the star-filled sky. "The stars…." He looked like he was in a happy trans as he smiled up at the sky.

I looked up to see what he meant by 'Ain't they pretty?'. I immediately understood. The stars sparkled like Christmas lights on a tree and flickered every now and then as if about to die out but came back even brighter than before. Suddenly, I realized all over again how deep Johnny was. He could dig a lot of things real good…both and him and Ponyboy could. Of course that was because they were best buddies for a long time. But it was odd that they could dig so well when the rest of the gang couldn't (at least not in public), but I didn't mind because I always had someone to talk to about anything I liked and that was 99 of the time Johnny. Don't get me wrong; I talk to Ponyboy too and I enjoy our talks, but with Johnny it's different because I don't see him as one of my brothers…. He's more like the other half of me that's been missing for a while. I got that half of me back when I realized that how he felt about me was the same way I felt about him. That day among others was one of the best days of my life.

"Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he said, pulling my chin softly to face him and then kissed me slowly. My entire body tingled.

When we let go, I said, "I love you too, Johnny."

His big black eyes sparkled in the moonlight, like the stars, with happiness as he pressed his forehead against mine. Pretty soon I was wrapped in his arms and being walked into the house as we kissed each other with as much love and passion as was possible at the moment. In no longer than a minute, it seemed, that I was on the couch, on my back against the arm and Johnny was kissing me so hard that I could feel my lips bruising.

He started pulling at my nightshirt as he moved from my lips to my chin to my neck and then collar bone, but then he stopped everything. "Wait," he said, sitting up, looking ruffled and excited. "Wait. Umm…. Are you ready?"

I was confused for a minute before everything came at me real quick: _We were about to get at it on my couch in my living room_. I also realized that I was only in a nightshirt – an old one of Two-Bit's that was huge on me. I got really scared and nervous about the fact that I was under Johnny, on my back and starting to get at it with him under the influence of fear and vulnerability. I looked him in the eyes and said, "Umm…."

He helped me sit up and said, "It's okay. I understand."

I felt awful now. I'd gotten him so excited and then just let him down. "I'm so sorry, Johnny…. It's just…it was happening so fast."

"Yeah, I know. And don't be sorry. It's your body and your choice…. Besides, I wouldn't wanna push you into anything before you're ready or get you pregnant before you can handle it," he said, pushing my hair out of my face.

I smiled at him.

_**Johnny's POV**_

_She sure is pretty when she smiles_, I thought peacefully before saying, "Look, you're young and so am I, so we have a lot of time to do this…. There's no rush at all for this…. You just let me know when you're ready and I'll be there."

She reached out and touched my cheek saying, "I really do love you, Johnny. You know that right?"

"I do…. I love you too…. Listen, I need ask you something, "I said, kissing her palm.

"What?"

I struggled with the words for a minute, not knowing exactly how to ask her, and decided on, "D'you wanna go steady with me?"

Her eyes lit up and she said, "Why, Johnny Cade, are you asking me to be your girl?"

I felt myself go slightly red and nodded sheepishly.

She nodded and jumped on me, kissing me hard and I realized that from now on my goal in this relationship was to make her as happy as I can and keep her that way. Not to brag or anything, but I figured that I was doing a good job so far because she kept kissing me and smirking at the same time.

When we let go, we just lay there on the couch, looking out at the night sky as it turned form a midnight blue to a sort of deep royal blue, signaling the arrival of dawn in a few hours.

I was warm all over as I held Faith in my arms. She was playing with my fingers absentmindedly as she smiled. At first she just smiled a small smile, but now she was smiling so big that I could see her dimples, so I wondered, _either she's lost her mind or she's thinking about something that's funny, good or both_.

"What's so funny?" I asked interlocking my left hand with her right hand.

She looked up at me with those green eyes and said, "Nothing funny…. I'm just happy and really calm for the first time since those Socs jumped ya."

I shuddered at the memory and shut my eyes tight before images could come flooding back to me.

She gasped and said, "Shit. I'm sorry, Johnny. I didn't mean to bring them memories back for ya."

I opened my eyes to see hers filled with worry and sorrow and said, "Ah, it's okay, Faith. It's over now, right? So what's to be sorry 'bout? I'm just glad you're okay now. I never knew it bothered you that much…. Is that why you flipped so badly (even for you) when Two-Bit came home one day with that cut over his eye even though he won?"

She nodded. "Yeah and…I'm a greaser: it's in my blood to be wild when someone hurts someone I love…. Which is also why those Socs are gonna pay tomorrow…the ones who tried to jump Pony today…. He was one of those other Socs' friends. I can't remember his name, but the one that got you…his name was Bob – something. Probably some stupid Soc name or something. It doesn't matter anyway, because if he ever tries anything with any of you again…" She cracked her knuckles loudly and made a switchblade opening movement with her hand and continued, "he's as good as guts on the sidewalk."

_Wow…. Note to self: _Don't piss off Faith or anyone she loves. I thought this and smiled to myself as she went back to playing with my fingers innocently.

Always so strong and smart (both book and street) and perceptive, Faith was also the youngest and most innocent one of all of us to gain such fear out of the Socs. It was strange, but then again if it were any other way…things wouldn't have turned out the same. It's hard to explain why, but Faith is the only girl (Greaser or Soc) who was perfect for the spot of the only girl in all our families who's close with the gang and she seems okay with it. She wasn't scared like the Soc girls would be if they ever saw the things she's seen or been through the things she's been through. She wasn't one to show off like a greaser girl would if she knew she was loved by the best looking guys in the world (at least that's what the gang says) and was considered a real member and a strong member of the gang. She was just Faith: calm, cool, collected and faithful to the gang and everyone in it. She loved us all and she's told us all at one point or another that she does.

"You're strong, Faith…. You're strong, " I said, kissing the top of her head.

Dawn would be coming in a few hours and we were both tired, so it was understandable if we fell asleep on the couch… together…her in my arms and our hands interlocked…right? _NOT!_ So, we said our goodnights and went back to sleep – I, on the couch and she, in her bedroom.

When I closed my eyes, I immediately felt myself sink into sleep: the warmth and security of a dream world that never seemed to exist before tonight encircling me as I dreamt of the day to follow. Tomorrow – today actually – would be Friday and the last day of school for two days and then we'd be back again on Monday. I heard a groan that might've come from me as I slept and thought, _maybe I should stay home and just hang around until Dally calls us to meet him for the movie…. No, because if I stay home and Faith goes to school, I'll be bored; but if I go to school, Faith and I will have the chance to piss off the people who've always hated the fact that we like each other by showing them that we finally hooked up…. Hehehehehe, yeah._ Suddenly I saw an image of a Soc guy and a greaser girl looking at us with fire in their eyes and I heard myself laugh in my sleep.

"That's funny," I said groggily.

"What is?" asked Two-Bit in my ear, causing me to sit up in shock. He laughed as I calmed down and handed me a glass of milk. "Drink it and get ready for school. You're comin' with me and Faith to breakfast and then the two of ya are goin' to school," he said, walking around the living room and gathering his things: his jacket, his switchblade (I'm surprised he doesn't sleep with it), and some money Mrs. Matthews must've left for them when she left for work.

I pulled on my tennis shoes and searched for my jacket, which was hanging on the coat rack…. Strange.

"So, for real, what was funny?" Two-Bit asked, flipping his collar up.

I was contemplating letting Two-Bit in on the fact that I was now his baby sister's boyfriend (first one) when Faith walked in, shaking her head furiously, telling me what I should do: _NOT TELL_.

"Oh, nothing. I was just dreamin' of Soda and Pony playin' catch and Pony hit Soda in the head with the ball," I said, nearly kicking myself for that horrible lie.

Two-Bit scoffed a little and said, "Johnny, I wish I was as deep as you."

"But then you wouldn't be you, Mickey," said Faith, calling her brother by the nickname that only she could call him by. She was dressed in a pair of bell-bottomed jeans that hugged her hips tighter than I ever had and a light blue wife-beater underneath an off-the-shoulder T-shirt. At the moment she was pulling on her jacket.

Two-Bit turned to look at her and asked, "What, you don't think I'm deep, Minnie?" Only Two-Bit was allowed to call her Minnie and we found that out when one day Dally called her that, and she broke the bottle of Coke she was drinking, telling him to never call her that again unless he wanted her to tear him a new one. He never called her 'Minnie' again.

Faith shook her head and said, "Nah…well, at least not as deep as Johnny, Pony and me. You've got ya own level of deepness, Mickey, be happy with that."

Two-Bit smirked and nodded as he said, "Yep. Minnie, how're you always right?"

Faith smiled and said, "Dunno…just am."

These two had the cutest yet strangest brother and sister relationship among all greasers. They never fought – argued – but never fought. They loved each other and showed it through any way they could: i.e. -> their nicknames for each other. Faith came up with 'Mickey' because of Two-Bit's love of Mickey Mouse and Two-Bit came up with 'Minnie' because of Faith's constant intelligence and love for 'Mickey'. Everyone else thought they were crazy for being so close to each other, but we all knew that they were actually jealous because Faith actually had someone who'd take care of her when she needed it and someone who'd let have fun when she needed it. They were jealous of the fact that even though Two-Bit's known for getting crocked, he'd go a night without getting crocked just so Faith can get crocked for once or so they could hang out as brother and sister or as friends, which strengthens their relationship. They were jealous of the fact that Faith was always looking out for Two-Bit and making sure that he got home safe when he was drunk even though it took time out of her life, which also strengthens their relationship. They were just always jealous of the love they had for each other, because they knew it was rare and beautiful and they didn't have it.

I smiled at them and Two-Bit said, "Okay, let's go. How 'bout The Dingo?"

"Sure," we said in unison as I gave Faith's hand a squeeze good morning.

We ate breakfast and then Two-Bit dropped us off at the schoolhouse before he handed Faith and I a couple bucks each for lunch and left.


	3. School and Socs and Jealousy

Glad you're liking it, swayzestyle713. Here's more. Enjoy!

Ch. 3 - School and Socs

_**Faith's POV**_

As soon as Two-Bit disappeared around the corner, I smirked at Johnny and slowly pushed him up against a locker and started making out with him.

He pulled away only to smirk and say, "You're also sneaky, Faith."

We pulled apart only when we heard screaming, signaling the daily beat up of nerdy Socy girls by my girls. They all loved fighting…. I hated it unless I was protecting someone…. Then it became my sole concentration in the moment. Other than those times I just concentrated on the verbal abuse I use on the Socs who think they're the shit.

I groaned inwardly as I rolled my eyes. "I need to go stop that before the fuzz show up," I said, starting to walk away.

He nodded. "Be careful…. Watch out for switches."

I nodded and said, "I will…. See you after school?"

"Only for an hour or two. Dally's taking me and Ponyboy to the Nightly Double later."

I chuckled lightly because Julia, Diane and I also decided to go to the Nightly Double tonight. "Maybe I'll see you guys there…or maybe not…. Depends on whether or not Julia and Chris are back together, 'cause if they _are_ I'm not sticking around to see that slobber fest…unless you and Pony just wanna hang with Dally by yourselves – then that's cool too."

"Nah, if you want you can just pop in on us if you're bored or just wanna…you know…hang out."

"Two-Bit gonna be there?"

"If he's not crocked, he'll show…and the others are busy."

"Oh, okay…. Two-Bit ain't gonna get crocked tonight…. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and he has to take me."

"So we have to sneak around some more," he said, smirking.

I smirked back and nodded. "See ya."

"Later."

I walked down the hall and as I turned the corner, I saw my girls chasing a couple of Socy girls down the hall with switchblades in their hands. I stepped out of the way just in time as one of the Soc girls' heels broke and she fell and slid the rest of the way down the hall. The other one followed soon after, and she wasn't even tripped or anything like that…she just fell. I laughed at them and walked over to my girls.

"Hey," said Natalie, laughing and stowing away her switchblade.

"Hey, Nat, Angel…. Where're Julia and Diane?"

"Not here yet…. Hey! Hey, Socs! Get a load of that! Look at how pathetic your kind are: they can't even stay on their own two feet let alone defend themselves! Ya might as well be dead, ya white trash with money," said Angel to a group of Socs who were helping up the other two and staring daggers at us as Natalie and I laughed at Angel's comments about the Socs.

One of them obviously couldn't take it because she came up to us and said, "You're despicable, hood! Don't you have anything better to do than to cause trouble? Huh?" She was fuming. Her face was about as red as her hair, which was probably another reason people called her 'Cherry' instead of Sherry, her real name. I never liked her too much but I'd never had any trouble with her until now because she knew not to mess with any of my people…. I had heard that she liked to hit people when she was frustrated, but when someone hit her back she played little miss innocent and cried her eyes out until she got what she wanted. "Answer me!" she yelled and tried to push Angel into a locker, but I stopped her before she could even touch her.

I stared her in her green eyes, feeling my own blazing with fire, for a minute before she said, "Let go of me, hood!"

"Fine…but if you go for any of us again…" I gestured to an old, abandoned locker in the corner, dirty and rusty and said, "You see that locker over there? Well, if you try anything again, they'll find you in pieces in there…. Understand?"

She pushed herself roughly off of me and said, "Hood!" She stalked off, looking prissy, toward her friends and her boyfriend, Bob – something, embraced her.

I never had any trouble with him myself but that was the kid who'd jumped Johnny. I knew it because, besides seeing the rings that gave Johnny that tuff scar on his cheek, I also saw that smirk he always had reserved for Johnny every time he saw him. He was also the reason Johnny was considering dropping out and also the reason Soda wanted to come back, but he was the _only_ reason. Soda was willing to go back to school just so he could protect Johnny, but we all knew that if he quit his job at the DX station he, Darry and Ponyboy would be in even deeper financial trouble, so we all (me, my girls, and Ponyboy) promised we'd all stick together at school and everywhere we went it with Johnny. That seemed to calm the gang down…especially Dally, who, though he'd never show it, loved Johnny like he was his brother and he was always looking out for him because while he was around (as he put it) 'no one was ever gonna hurt Johnny again.' Yep, Dally sure loved Johnny.

"Go to hell, bitch!" called Natalie as the Socs walked away and she once again stowed away the switchblade she'd expertly pulled out in the split second of sheer instinct in which she thought Sherry 'Cherry' Valance (a cheerleader) was going to start it with her.

I made sure the Socs were well out of earshot before saying, "What the hell is wrong with you, stupid? Why are you startin' with them? Why are you always startin' fights? Don't you know that those girls hang out with Bob – whoever he is? Don't you know – no – don't you _remember_ what he and his gang did to Johnny?" They were quiet and just listened as I yelled in disgust at them. "What, do you want it to happen again? Do you want them to hurt Johnny again? Or do you want them to hurt _you_?"

"No!" yelled Angel (smart mouth of my girls), thinking she was going to overpower me this time, but I didn't know why…she never did.

"Then stop pickin' and startin' fights, dumbass! You may think it's okay now but, what about when no one's with you two? What's gonna happen then? "

They opened their mouths to say something but I cut them off.

"You're gonna get jumped, that's what! Look, you two need to stop pickin' fights with the Socs not only because it _is_ despicable, but also because I don't want to see the two of ya get hurt…. I love you guys too much to see you get hurt by the Socs."

They nodded and Nat asked, "How come you don't like to fight, Faith… wait let me rephrase that…how come you don't like to _start _fights…you know…like us…how come?"

I shrugged. I never really tried to figure out why I, coming from the same family as Two-Bit, never like fighting…. To me it was just always…I don't know…_not me_…. I dug sunsets, sunrises, poetry, literature and just simplicity…like Ponyboy and the same as Johnny, who liked to listen to stories. I didn't dig cussing, drinking or fighting…too much…. Like I said before, I only fight if it's to defend – not to just start something because I'm bored like Nat and Angel, who still questioned the fact that I was Two-Bit's sister. "I guess I'm just different: …calmer than most people."

"You mean greasers?"

I'd begun walking toward my locker and I turned and said, "…No, I meant people."

Angel, who was in her last year of high school, raised her eyebrow and made an 'okay – crazy' look. She had only one class with us, which was our first period class today.

I smiled as I packed for my first class, remembering that I had that class not only with Angel but also with Julia, Diane, Natalie, Ponyboy and Johnny.

Being a person who hates not talking Nat asked, "So, what'd you do yesterday and this morning? Anything new?"

"Well, yesterday…let's see…yesterday I got my first kiss and this morning me and Johnny decided to go steady," I said, ending really quickly.

"Oh, okay," said Natalie, picking at an old scar on her chin. After a few seconds she said, "Wait…. What? For real? Oh my God, Faith, really? You hooked up with Johnny? Awww, my li'l baby girl is growing up."

Angel just stared in shock for a minute while Natalie hugged me and closed my locker door and then she said, "Oh…how nice…. You and Johnny…yeah…. Finally."

"What's wrong, Angel?" asked Natalie, turning to her in confusion.

Angel shook her head and said, "Nah, nothing's wrong."

I knew what was wrong.

She'd always had this sort of childhood crush on Johnny, even though she's two years older than him, but lately she really hasn't been showing it so I thought she was over him…. I guess I was wrong…. But I didn't feel bad – that was the greaser side of me. If she had a problem with Johnny and I going together then that was her problem, not mine; this is why I wasn't even going to bother with the hour or so of prying to know her problem and then trying to comfort her. Don't get me wrong – I'm not mad that she's jealous or something – I just don't want to deal with it now and ruin my day.

"C'mon, Angel, we know something's bothering you and it's bringing down Faith's high from hooking up with Johnny. So why don't you just tell us what's wrong so we can fix it and get on with a good day: bothering Faith and Johnny 'bout hookin' up," said Nat, smirking.

Angel said nothing, just exhaled deeply and stared at the floor, a look of wanting to burst on her face.

I looked her up and down, ready to slap her and rolled my eyes. "Just drop it, Nat. She doesn't wanna talk about it and I, personally, don't wanna hear it. So, if you don't mind, let's just drop it and go to class." I'd begun to walk away when Angel punched a locker.

"You can never think of anyone but yourself, can you?"

I stopped, turned and said, "What?"

"You can't! All you ever do is think about yourself and how much the gang loves you and you love them…especially Johnny…. _Especially_ Johnny! _Johnny_: the boy you knew I've loved since forever and the boy you all of a sudden 'hook up' with after he gives you your first kiss! See, Faith, what I can't understand is why you feel the need to steal Johnny from me! Why do you need the boy I love! You have _everything_ else…. Why do you need Johnny?"

"First of all, Angel and I can and _do_ think about _everyone_ but myself and how much the gang loves me and how I love them…_especially_ Johnny. _Johnny_: the boy who you've had a _crush_ on but never _loved_ like have…or how the gang does. Second of all don't be mad because Johnny's not attracted to sluts but is attracted to me and chose to give me my first kiss and ask me to be his girl when I chose to let him! And last but _certainly_ not least: I didn't steal Johnny from you because you never had him and I don't see why you should…. You'd just treat him like an object instead of the wonderful person he is."

She said nothing, though I could tell she wanted to say something about me calling her a slut.

"And not that it's any of your business, but I _don't_ have everything…. If I did, none of us would have to live this kind of life," I said and waited a few seconds for a reply. But when none came, I walked away to my first class just as the bell rang. Nat and Angel were right behind me, and Julia and Diane showed up a split second before the late bell rang, already half way filled in on the morning's events.

_This is gonna be a long day_, I thought as I took a seat in the back corner of the room, where Johnny and Ponyboy were.

_**Johnny's POV**_

Faith sat next to me and behind Ponyboy, looking kind of ticked off, and (don't ask me how because I really don't know how) I just knew that she'd let Nat and Angel in on the fact that we were a couple. She just sat there for a while, drumming her fingers on the desk and staring blankly at the blackboard on which the teacher was now writing notes. Then, as the teacher made his way around the classroom to collect homework, she asked, "Johnny, do you have your switch?"

I nodded, pulled it out of my back pocket, and handed it to her without letting Mr. Connor see us.

"Thanks," she said, giving me a small smile. She opened the switchblade and began scratching something into her desk with it. I couldn't see what she was scratching into the desk just yet because she was blocking it from anyone who'd squeal on her, but when she moved her hands just in time to for Mr. Connor to see it, I saw it too.

"Where's your homework, Faith?" he asked, not yet noticing the desk-graffiti.

She leaned back in her seat and smirked at the look on his face when he saw what she'd written: '_FUCK OFF_'.

I choked back laughter as Mr. Connor nearly dropped his papers in a fluster.

"Faith Matthews! What's wrong with you? You never behave like this! What's going on?" He lowered his voice to ask, "Is it PMS?"

She, Ponyboy, Faith's girls (even Angel) and I burst out laughing at this.

"Oh my God! Check out this moron! 'Is it PMS?' What are you? Stupid?" laughed Faith.

Mr. Connor had had enough. "Go to the Dean, Ms. Matthews. Mr. Cade, escort her…_now_!"

We didn't stop laughing at all as we walked out of the classroom, but the laughter died down as we stepped out into the deserted hallway.

"Faith?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you tell Nat and Angel 'bout us?"

"Yeah…."

"Oh…. So would I be right if I guessed that Angel didn't take it too well?"

She scoffed and said, "Yeah, she kind of flipped when I mentioned it."

"I'm sorry about that," I said, looking at her as she shook her head.

"Don't be…. It's her problem, not ours. I'm not tryin' to be mean or anything, because I can understand that she's had a crush on you forever, but I'm not coddling her for this or for anything else for that matter…. If she needs time to get over it then she can have all the time she needs, but she better not say that stuff she said to me again…. That's something I ain't gonna stand for," she said, her voice cracking in some parts.

I nodded and said, "You're right. It's her problem."

She smiled at me and said, "You feel bad for her don't you?"

"N-no," I said, for some reason feeling that if I said 'yes' I'd get my ass kicked so badly it's not even funny.

She stopped walking and grabbed my shoulders saying," Yes you do, Johnny. You're too good to not feel bad for a girl who's had a crush on you since forever and just found out that one of her best friends is going out with you."

"…. How do you _know_ that?" I asked, grabbing her hands and interlocking them with mine, smiling.

"Your eyes…they give you away, sweetie. They fill up with whatever you're feeling as soon as you feel it."

I smiled at her as she stared into my eyes. I pushed her against a locker and nuzzled her neck saying, "Yeah? So what was I just feeling?"

"Horny…you were horny," she said in my ear softly. "C'mon. Let's go before Connor comes out here."

"Okay…. Race ya," I said, pulling her off the locker.

"On your mark…get set…go!"

We took off and ran to the Dean's office, twisting and swerving and almost running into walls. It was a tie and when I left, Dean Thatcher was hollering her at. I just went back to class and sat through it and the rest of them, bored as hell.

* * *

_**Later That Day**_

We were at Two-Bit's and Faith's place, explaining why Faith was suspended for a week from school, and Two-Bit was laughing his ass off as we told him this.

"Minnie, you cursed at Connor? Wow! Who did what to piss you off? Hehehehehe!"

Faith laughed and said, "Long story…. I'm just suspended for a week and that's all I know."

"Okay…. So now we have a week to hang with our people. You wanna come with me to the DX station after we come from the Doctor's?"

"Sure, why?"

"'Why' what? Can't a guy just hang out with his little sister once in a while?"

"Yeah…true. But I'm bettin' that this time you just want me to help you hook up with one of the girls for the night, right?"

"No…. Yeah, okay, you're right. Will you?"

"Why me, though?"

"Because they think you're adorable…. So will you?"

"Yeah, always," she said, opening the fridge, pulling out a can of chocolate frosting and eating it just like that with her index finger.

"Thanks…. Gimme some of that," he said, reaching for the can.

"Here, finish it before I eat it all and gain about five pounds just eating that," she said, handing him the can.

"What's with the vanity? You're fine and five pounds won't change much because you'll work it off in a day anyway," Two-Bit said, wolfing down the frosting.

I smiled to myself because of Faith's sudden vanity about her figure. "Faith, you look good all the freakin' time. You really think five pounds will be noticeable? It'll probably go to your ass or chest anyway, so don't worry about it," I said, causing Faith to smirk and blush.

"See, Johnny thinks you _always_ look good, and he's not even your boyfriend so he doesn't have to say it…he just said it because it's true. Right, Johnny?"

"Hell yeah!"

Faith and I laughed at Two-Bit's ignorance.

"See? Don't worry 'bout it," he said, going back to his frosting happily.

"Whatever. Listen, I gotta go meet Julia and Diane to go to the Nightly Double. I'll see you later, Mickey, Johnny," she said, pulling on her jacket.

"Later," said Two-Bit mouth covered in chocolate.

I'll go with you," I said, deciding that if Angel were there with Julia and Diane, I'd straighten things out with her so that no bad blood was left between us or her and Faith. I really didn't want her and Angel's friendship to end because Angel couldn't get over me.

"Okay, c'mon."

We talked about whatever came into our heads as we walked and when we reached Julia's place, I was glad that I came with Faith because Angel was on the couch.

Her eyes were puffy and red from crying and when we walked in, she rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth saying, "Here we go again."

Faith rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth saying, "Jesus Christ, Angel!" Her voice softened as she sat down next to her on the couch. "We need to talk about this."

"Yeah, we do…but I need to talk to Johnny first."

Faith nodded and ushered Julia and Diane, who wanted to stay, out of the living room and into Julia's bedroom.

_Oh shit, I'm in trouble_, I thought as I sat down next to Angel. "You were expecting to see me here?"

She nodded, drying her eyes. "Julia and Diane told me that Faith was coming and I figured you'd come with her because I found out from Ponyboy that you two was goin' with Dally to the Nightly Double."

"Yeah and we gotta go meet Dally soon so, we need to get this over with."

"O-okay. Listen, I just wanted to say…what I mean is…. Look, Johnny, I just wanna know one thing before I can fully get over you and the fact that you and Faith love each other because I can and could always see you do."

"What is it?"

_God, please don't let her bring _that_ up_, I thought to myself, remembering the event that caused Angel to 'fall in love' with me.

"Did I mean anything to you? You know, during and after that night? Did I?"

I sighed and said, "Of course, you did, Angel. It's just – it's in the past and you need to stop chasin' it because it's never gonna happen again…. Angel, I know that it's hard gettin' over someone who's way past you but it doesn't mean that you should blow your whole friendship with Faith because of it. You two have been friends since you were three and I know that you're not mad at her for being my girlfriend. You're happy for her because she's happy, and I know you want her to be happy."

"Like you do…. You've always wanted to make her happy, Johnny…even when you were trying to make me happy…."

"How could you tell?"

"You called out _her_ name, Johnny. It's kind of obvious."

We laughed at the memory and I said, "See, you're making fun of me…. You're over me."

"Over a sweet person like you? Not by a long shot…but I'm getting there."

"Keep going because I'm going the other way with Faith."

She nodded, smiled and said, "Yeah, about that…. You hurt her and I swear, Johnny Cade, you'll wish you were never born."

"Yeah, I know…. But don't worry, I'd _never_ do anything to hurt Faith…never," I said, get up and helping her up.

"I know you wouldn't…. You're so good to her…."

"Are you guys done yet?" asked Diane from the doorframe.

"Yeah, we are," said Angel, walking to and into the bedroom and soon after coming back out with Faith, who was cocking an eyebrow (yep – she's Two-Bit's sister alright) and smirking.

"Alright, Angel, we're cool. Listen, we need to get going – it's already after eight and I'm starving," she said, walking up to me and wrapping herself in my arms. "Mmmm…. You want us to wait with you and Pony for Dally?"

"Nah, that's okay. You guys go ahead and go eat something before you pass out," I said, and Faith laughed.

"Okay, let's go," said Julia, opening the door and exiting soon followed by Diane and Angel, who said, "No funny business, ya heard?"

We laughed as they left and Faith lifted her head to kiss me before saying, "Later."

I kissed her back and said, "Ditto."

She smiled and left with the other three.

I went over to Ponyboy's and then we met Dally in front of the Dingo. After that we went over to the Nightly Double around nine thirty and got our seats.


	4. From Good to Bad in One Night

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave a review as you leave.

Ch. 4 - From Good to Bad in One Night

_**Faith's POV**_

My mind was racing! I was cool with Angel and everything but my mind still questioned what she needed to talk to Johnny about and why. Her problem was with me and she had the nerve to come to me after she spoke with Johnny and say 'everything's okay now. You and me cool?' Of course I said that we were because I wasn't going to start the problem that was over up again and make a fool out of myself because I was the one who said to drop it in the first place. But I still lingered on that thought: _What did she and Johnny talk about? What did they do?_ And even though that thought passed through my head every five minutes, I wasn't going to make an idiot out of myself by being a hypocrite.

We were now sitting and watching some beach party movie, while Angel (obviously over Johnny) flirted with Tim Shepard and his gang.

_ Lalalalala – I'm bored – lalala_, I thought and sighed.

"I'm gonna get some popcorn and a Coke…. I'll be right back…if I don't run away." I added the last part in a whisper.

From where I was standing in line for the refreshments, I saw Ponyboy, in a section of seats along with Johnny, talking with the Soc who'd tried to tell my girls and I off today: Sherry 'Cherry' Valance.

I'd have gone up to them, but I stopped myself when I saw that Ponyboy was enjoying talking with her. So I just got my popcorn and Coke, paid for them and went back to my seat, where I had a great view…not of the movie, but of Julia and Chris' screaming match.

"No, it's your fault, Chris! Who told you to go with Curly Shepard that night? I didn't! Actually, if I remember correctly, I asked you not to go, but you just said 'it'll be okay, baby, really' – like always! And now look – you're getting sent to a reformatory with him!"

"Julia, calm down! It's only six months and I'll be back here with you as soon as I get back. I really don't see why you're freakin' out on me…. It's no big deal," said Chris, rather stupidly.

_ Idiot, you gonna die now_, I thought, taking a sip of my Coke.

"'No big deal'? Chris, do you not understand that you're getting sent to a reformatory for six months? _Six months_! Do you know what a _month_ alone can do to you? And you think that _six_ months is 'no big deal'? Chris, sweetie, in _one_ month they'll have cut your hair, washed the grease out, worked you half to death and broken your spirit…imagine what _six_ months can do. I don't want that to happen to you…. You may be a reckless hood, but you're my reckless hood," Julia said, tears beginning to shine in her angry eyes.

_ 'Awww, baby, really? You're the best, Julia. C'mere…. Slobber, slobber, slobber'_, I thought, knowing that _that's_ exactly what Chris was going to say.

Chris got this softened look on his face (a real change from his 'tough guy' look) and said, "Awww, baby, really? You're the best, Julia. C'mere." Then he pulled her into a sloppy but passionate kiss.

"And there goes my appetite," I said, throwing away the Coke and popcorn. "Listen, I'm gonna go check around here to see if anyone I know is here," I said to Angel as she stared at the screen.

"Uh-huh…. Johnny and Ponyboy are over there…just so you know," she said, pointing to the section of seats right behind ours.

"Nah, I meant I was gonna see if Two-Bit was here…. If he ain't, I'll come back…. Johnny and Ponyboy are best buddies and I ain't getting between them while I'm with Johnny."

"You're with Johnny? What d'you mean? You guys are dating?" asked someone from behind me, scaring me bad because he/she grabbed my shoulder as he/she did so.

I turned and saw Two-Bit staring at me with a bemused look on his face.

"Man, Two-Bit, ya scared me half to death," I said, releasing a breath that I hadn't known I was holding.

"Sorry, Faith…but what'd ya just say? You're goin' steady with Johnny? You guys finally hooked up?" he asked softly, pushing my hair out of my face.

I could never lie to Two-Bit and I wasn't ever going to try it again. I decided that when I saw the hurt look on my brother's face. So I nodded sheepishly and said, "Yeah…since this morning. Two-Bit, I was gonna tell ya, but I was worried that you'd be pissed with Johnny and me because we're 'too young' (in some people's eyes)."

"Nah, I'm not mad at ya'll…just surprised that I found out so late…. Next time, just don't let me be the last to know…."

"There ain't gonna be a 'next time', Two-Bit," said Angel, still staring at the screen. "Can't you see that these two were meant for each other?"

Two-Bit smiled and said, "Yeah, I can…and I could ever since they met."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah…. You two are so bad at hiding your feelings that the whole gang's placed bets on when the two of ya would hook up…and me and Dally just won us fifteen big ones each," he said, smirking broadly.

I laughed, happy that my brother was okay with Johnny being my man and that he'd been rooting for us the whole time.

"C'mon, let's go find them and scare the shit out of them," he said, taking me by the hand and pulling me to the back of the lot and around to the row where Pony, Johnny, Cherry and her friend Marcia were sitting. Two-Bit snuck up on them, as I watched, and scared the hell out of them.

I laughed, but stopped when I saw that Johnny had turned white and looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

Two-Bit gave him the beer he was holding and said, "Here, drink this – it'll calm the nerves."

Johnny took it but didn't drink it and tossed it aside as Pony and Cherry left to go get some Cokes and popcorn. He pulled me over the seat in front of me to sit next to him and smirked mischievously.

"By the way, Johnny, you guys don't have to sneak around anymore…. I scared Faith and she confessed to it," Two-Bit said in a singsong voice.

I flipped him the birdie and he ruffled Johnny's hair. He then started to talk to Marcia and neither Johnny nor I could understand what the hell they were talking about…at least the conversation made sense to them.

Soon Tim Shepard came by and asked for Dally, who apparently had slashed his tires.

"They're gonna fight," Johnny said.

"Yeah," I said.

Two-Bit warded Tim off (you always have to protect your buddies) and as soon as he left, Two-Bit asked, "Dally got a blade on 'im?"

Pony was back now with Cherry, who flashed me an apologetic smile.

I smiled back hypocritically and said, "Hey," as Ponyboy said, "Nah, he didn't…at least I don't think so."

Two-Bit nodded and said, "Good. Shepard will fight fair if he don't."

"Yeah," said Ponyboy, handing Cherry her Coke.

For a while we all just sat and tried to watch the movie, but it was too boring so after only a few minutes Pony and Cherry got into a conversation about his brother Sodapop, Two-Bit and Marcia were throwing popcorn at each other and Johnny and I were thumb wrestling…. I won the first three games and then he came back with three wins.

"This one decides it all…the Thumb Wrestling Champion, if you will," I said as we counted down to the match. "One, two, three, four I declare a thumb war…. Mmf…argh…ah – one, two three! One, two, three! One, two, three!"

"No fair! That was a fast count!" he complained and laughed.

I laughed too and said, "Awww, poor baby! Okay, let's say you won that one so you won't cry."

"I'm too big to cry, Faith," he said, feigning some tears.

I tilted my head to the side and smiled softly, not only at Johnny but also at the fact that things were going really good tonight. Other than the fact that Dally and Tim were going to fight, everything was okay: Johnny and I were together after years of aching for something to happen and, Two-Bit supported us along with the gang, which included Dally, who never showed any real affection for anyone except for Johnny and had bet that we'd be together…. So, Dally _does_ have a heart? Yeah, he must, otherwise he wouldn't care if Johnny and I were happy.

"You're thinking the same thing I am, ain't you?" Johnny asked as he pushed a loose strand of hair put of my face.

"You thinking how good things are?"

"Yeah."

"Then, yeah. I am," I said, leaning in and kissing him. My nerve endings still tingled at his every touch and kiss.

He moved expertly from my lips and quickly made a trail of soft nips down to my neck and stayed there for a minute, marking his territory. Even though he was sucking my neck kind of hard, he made no noise, so no one noticed us until my breathing became heavy.

"Get a room!" yelled Chris as he walked up to me.

Johnny looked up and smirked, licking his lips as I flipped my collar to hide the newly formed hickey from Two-Bit (he may be okay with Johnny and I dating, but if he saw that hickey, we were both dead).

"You shouldn't be talking, Chris, the way you was slobbering all over Julia over there," I said, pulling him into the seat next to mine. "Where _is_ Julia?"

"Took her home about an hour ago and I just got back from 'saying goodbye'," he said, smirking and cocking an eyebrow. "Romantic, huh? Makin' love to my girl one last time before I get shipped off to the reformatory," he said, looking like a soldier who was about to die for his country. "Yep, it's romantic and you know it."

I laughed and shook my head. "You better have used protection," I said as Johnny tried to get at my neck again, but stopped as Two-Bit walked by to throw out his empty Coke cup.

"Don't worry, Faith. Julia and I are responsible adults and we always use protection."

"You're sixteen and she's thirteen and remember that one time you almost got her pregnant?"

"Shut up," he said, making a face.

When both movies had run through, we left and dropped Chris off at his place so that we could say one last goodbye before he left in the morning. Then we (mainly Two-Bit) offered to take Marcia and Cherry home, which was, as Two-Bit so wonderfully put it, 'only on the other side of town'. So now we were walking to my place to get the car so Two-Bit could drive the Socs home. I didn't see the point in being so nice to them because they'd never have done it for us.

As we walked and talked not much happened until some Socs in a blue Mustang (Marcia and Cherry's boyfriends) drove up to us and tried to get into it with us, but the Soc girls stopped them, Bob – whoever, the one who'd beaten Johnny half to death that one day in the lot, was drunk off his freaking ass along with the others and he looked at us as though he'd have liked very much to pull out a heater and shoot us. The girls then went with them so as to not start trouble and Two-Bit, Ponyboy, Johnny and I walked over to Johnny's place and left Ponyboy and Johnny there. Then Two-Bit and I walked home.

"You want a beer before you go to sleep?" he asked, hanging up his jacket when we got home.

"Nah, doctor's gonna do a blood test and if he finds alcohol in it, mom's gonna skin us both."

"Yeah, I forgot about that. All right, go to sleep. Mom's gonna be home soon and if she finds you awake – woo-ee! – I'm dead."

"Uh-huh," I said sleepily. "'Night."

"'Night."

I walked into my room, threw off my jacket, changed into my nightshirt and went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I hadn't even realized that I'd been so tired.

_**Johnny's POV**_

Since my folks were fighting, Pony and I went to the vacant lot where we'd fallen asleep and I woke him up who knows how long after so that he could go home…. Not fifteen minutes had passed when he came running back to the lot, crying. He said we were going to run away, but instead we just ran to the park and tried to calm down, but the Socs had shown up and tried to jump us. I'd pulled out my switchblade (thank God I got it back from Faith after school) and stabbed the main one: Bob Sheldon. Ponyboy had passed out, but when he came to we ran down to a party where Dally was because I figured he of _all_ people could help us out. We explained what'd happened and he gave us some money, a heater and instructions on what to do and where to go: catch the train to Windrixville…. Faster than I could even go over the day's events, I was at the old church Dally had told us about and about to sink into another dream.

The next few days were hell! Ponyboy and I had to cut our hair and Pony had to bleach his so that neither of would fit our descriptions that were in the paper by now. I had gotten over the fact that I killed someone, but I still felt guilty…. Who wouldn't? We killed time by playing cards and reading Gone With the Wind. Those soldiers sure were gallant…like Dally. Man, Dally sure was a quick thinker. If it weren't for him Pony and I would be sitting in the electric chair.

Dally showed up a few days later, smoked a cancer stick, gave Ponyboy a letter from Sodapop, and took us to a Dairy Queen to eat. Man, you do _not_ know what 'hungry' is until you've eaten bologna for four days straight and then see what you're about to eat, sitting on a dashboard in front of you.

We wolfed down the food and I decided that I was going to turn myself in for reasons that Dally probably _still_ can't understand and _still_ disagrees on. But now's not the time to get into that because I have to get on with the story. (A/N: This should be a hint at what the 'li'l difference' is between my version and the original version of the book beside the few years' continuation at the end.)

After Dally flipped on me, we drove off, at which point he flipped some more and then when we got back to the church – it was on fire! I don't exactly know why I did it, maybe I felt responsible or something, but I went with Ponyboy when he ran into the church. That guy, Jerry or whatever, tried to stop us, but he was too fat to follow us into the church.

I look back on what happened (A/N: Another hint) and I think it was the bravest, _stupidest_ think that I've _ever _done…and that includes talking back to my father when he was drunk. I'm surprised the fucking beam didn't kill me right on the damn spot! But I was glad it didn't…. I was way too fucking young to die…. Sixteen years ain't long enough…especially when the only time you've ever left your neighborhood is because you've committed a murder and need to hide. I told Ponyboy so when he came to visit me in the hospital. I also told him to tell Faith that I loved her because I knew I was dying. He said that he would, but I could tell her again when I got out because I was going to be okay. I knew that even if I _did_ live, I wasn't ever going to be able to walk again because my back was busted, so I wouldn't be 'okay'.

"You gotta be," Ponyboy had said. He was scared…. We were best buddies and trust me he wanted to lose a friend about as much I wanted to die.

After he and Two-Bit had left (I was told later on because I had passed out) my mom had to be taken away by security because she was causing a scene.


	5. A Painful Hell Part One

To all my reviewers: I am so sorry it took me so long to update, but what with school and the writing institute I've been so busy. But here it is: Ch 5 which is only half of one complete chapter. Ch 6 will be the second half. I'll try to have that up as soon as possible. Again, I apologize and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the others. Thank you.

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Ch. 5 - A Painful Hell Part One

_**Faith's POV**_

_Calm down!_

I'd tried that command on myself about twenty times already, but it hadn't worked once. I'd downed five can of beer and at least half a pack of smokes in less than ten minutes and was now pacing the kitchen as the gang just stared at me, in shock at the news that we'd heard the day before.

"You know, _you're_ gonna die before you even get to see Johnny before he – you know," said Steve, numbly and almost dead, staring at a scorch mark on the kitchen table.

I turned toward him and snapped. "Don't you say it, Steve! Don't you say it! I'll kill you if you say it," I screamed as I tried to jump at him, but failed because he'd been alert enough to stop me by grabbing me by my wrists and catch me before I fell apart. "Don't say it, Steve. Please don't say it, Steve…." By now I'd broken down completely and Steve was trying to shush my tears and sobs away.

"No, sweetheart, I won't say it…. I won't say it 'cause it ain't gonna happen…. He's gonna be okay, sweetie, and the two of you'll be together forever and ever," he said, pulling me into his arms and resting his chin on my head. "Forever….

I knew he was only saying that because he didn't want to see me cry anymore and to calm me down so the gang wouldn't start up, God, help me, I tried to believe him…. I really did because I _wanted_ to, but when Ponyboy had told us what had happened. I knew what the odds were of Johnny even living let alone being able to walk again: one million to one.

Steve had succeeded in sedating me, but now a new problem had arisen: all the beer, smoke, and panic had turned my stomach in on itself and it was jolting painfully, trying to get the toxins out of me. I held it all down pretty good until Steve stood me up straight, causing me to get dizzy and my stomach to give an especially painful jolt. I felt the bile rise and as soon as I did, I ran to the bathroom and retched so hard that after the third time the putrid brown fluid was just blood and acid.

Someone had been holding my hair back as I threw up and was now rubbing my back as I pulled my head out of the toilet bowl. It was Two-Bit who was holding me like a baby a minute later, wiping the sweat and vomit from my around my mouth.

"You're _way_ too lightweight to be drinking and smoking that much _that_ fast," he said softly.

I groaned and hiccoughed, almost throwing up again. "Yeah…. Two-Bit?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna ask you something and I want you to answer truthfully, okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you think Johnny's gonna be okay? Or live at all?"

"I dunno…. I _want_ him to live and be okay…so does the gang…but I dunno. The odds aren't very good."

I nodded and buried my face in his shoulder. He was warm and smelled like lavender, which calmed me down a lot. I let a giggle escape because I had just realized that Two-Bit had used my body wash (lavender).

"You used my body wash, didn't you?"

"Yeah…. It smelled good," he said helping me up as he stood. "That's all, it smelled good! I'm not gay!"

I laughed and walked with him to the kitchen, where the gang was and where I grabbed a bottle of seltzer and a lemon. I poured the seltzer into a glass and squeezed the lemon juice into that too and gulped it down. I immediately felt better.

The gang was staring at the same damn scorch mark on the table as Steve was…all except for Darry…. He was staring at me. His ice-green eyes were filled with sorrow and worry, and he was causing a crease to appear on his forehead.

I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking about how he was going to handle his younger brothers if Johnny dies and how I was going to take it along with them. You see I was close with all three of the Curtis brothers on some level but Pony, Johnny and I were the closest of the gang. Although all three of us had separate relationships with one another, we all three had this one band that no one was ever going to tear apart, though we never really showed it because not many people could see that Ponyboy and I were extremely close but not in the general sense of it where you flaunt it to the world. We don't hang together everyday and we don't talk to each other more than once or twice a week, but when we _do_ take part in all those things it's on such a high level of closeness that neither one of us can really give you more than one explanation as to how we got so close. That explanation is that we dig a lot of the same things…_a lot_ of the same things and we can always bond over the same things: the sunsets we see everyday, the books we read and are forced to read, feelings about things we see around the neighborhood…a lot of things. Maybe you can't understand yet, but you will soon…because that's how it was for Pony and me. _We_ couldn't understand why we were so close until we were ten and eleven years old. Then after that realization we just kept it going because one: we were used to it and two: we wanted to get closer so the gang wouldn't worry about a breach in its precious, strong relationship of brothers and sister. That reason came about when we realized that Darry and Two-Bit were trying to get Ponyboy and I to play together more. Maybe they wanted us to hook up or something later on…I don't know…but we always refused until _we_ felt like it, and then they'd see us hanging out and talking for at least six hours straight. It made no sense to the rest of them…even Johnny…but they went with it because it was what they wanted…in a way.

As the years passed by, though Pony and I got older and started hanging out with other people, we became almost like fraternal twins: so freaking close that we could practically feel everything the other felt. It confused the hell out of the gang, but Darry began to accept it and sort of looked at me like a sister and Two-Bit looked at Pony like a brother.

I finished the seltzer and walked over to Darry to hug him. He'd stood up before I even reached him and hugged me.

"You should go see Johnny. He's most likely dying to see you."

I nodded and hid the chill that went up and down my spine when he said 'dying'. I said my goodbyes, got my jacket and left for the hospital.

When I arrived at the hospital and went into Johnny's room, he was facedown, spread-eagle on the bed and it seemed that he was heavily sedated because he was looking like he'd just been knocked upside the head with a bat. I sat in the chair in front of his bed and tried my best not to cry at the sight of him. From his neck down to the middle of his back, and maybe further, he was burned and bleeding slightly. The middle of his back was dented really badly and that's where his back was broken.

"Jesus Johnny," I whispered. "First you wanted to turn yourself in and then you go and…and…get your back busted because you're such a good person."

"And because I'm a hero according to the paper," came Johnny's voice in a soft whisper.

I jumped at the sound and then kneeled in front of him to get a better look at him. There was a mirror there so that he could look up at people above his bed. I took his hands in mine and squeezed as I said, "Ya had me scared fuckin' shitless, Johnny."

"Sorry. I thought you knew I was awake."

"The drugs make you look like you're sleeping, sweetie," I said, looking at him in the mirror.

He smiled wearily and said, "Yeah, I know…. I missed you…. I didn't think I'd get to se you again before I go…so I told Ponyboy –"

"To tell me you love me and I know you do," I said, starting to cry when he said 'before I go'. "And you're not going anywhere, Johnny. You'll be okay, I swear it." My heart was beating fast and I squeezed his hands tighter. "You'll be okay…. I need you to be okay."

I saw him grit his teeth and bite back tears as he said, "No matter what, I'll always be with you…even when I'm dead."

I shook my head and said, "No! No! Johnny, you're gonna live and be okay. God, this can't be happening…it can't be. I love you so much…. I don't want you to die…not now…not ever…."

"Faith, I know you love me…I can feel it in my heart – a feeling that grows with ever beat of my heart – and I know you know I love you – you have the same feeling. And I know that you're strong and will be able to go on without me…and accept the fact that I'm dead."

My body was racked with sobs now and I was shaking my head at his words. Johnny wasn't going to die! He was going to be okay! He'll heal, go through physical therapy and everything will be okay again. I just wasn't going to accept what I knew to be true – he was dying. "No Johnny."

"Please, Faith, don't make this harder than it is. You know I hate to see you cry. So please stop crying."

I bit back the overflowing tears and nodded, complying with his wishes. But it was hard to do, and I was trying so hard that now I was damn near breaking Johnny's hands.

He squeezed back and said, "Hey, look. No matter what, I'll always be with you, Faith. In your heart – that's where I'll be. I won't be here physically but spiritually I'll be right next to you…watching over you."

I smiled and moved to kiss his left hand.

After I calmed down a little, he started to ask me about what had happened while he was in Windrixville.

"Oh man, when they found that guy – Bob Sheldon (I finally learned his name) – people panicked all over the other side of town, and people here (mainly the gang) just shrugged it off until you and Ponyboy's faces came up in the paper – then we all flipped. Oh, Johnny, you had to see my girls' faces – especially Angel – it was hilarious. Man, but it was nothing compared to how scared I was, Johnny. For a good hour or two after I read the story in the paper, I just panicked and then I went over to Dally's when no one would notice and asked about what he knew because I had a feeling that of all people who'd be able to help, Dally would. He wouldn't answer at first but when he saw how scared I was, he caved and told me everything, which I had to pass on to Two-Bit because he was gonna go to Texas to look for ya. That was kind of funny until that night. Two-Bit, man…I've never seen him get so crocked – he almost needed to get to a hospital because he was so drunk – I guess it was because he was so scared…. Hell! Even _I_ got crocked that night."

"Wow! You?"

"Yeah, I know…. Threw it all up the next morning, but yeah, I got crocked."

We just kept talking for a while until a nurse came in and said, "Johnny, won't ya let ya momma see ya? She says she really wants to and she promises to calm down if you let her in."

Johnny looked at me in the mirror with a 'what – do – you – think?' look, and I nodded even though I hated his mother.

"Fine, but she better be drugged or something 'cause I ain't really itching to hear her crap," he said grouchily.

The nurse laughed, but I knew Johnny was serious. She waved at someone through the door and in came Mrs. Cade all calm and sedated at first, but then she flipped out. She started hollering at the nurse and Johnny and throwing things around the room. Security got there quick and had to hold her down to try to drag her out. But she kept pulling herself back to Johnny's bed and

one of her legs hit the rickety leg of the bed Johnny was on. The leg collapsed causing all the weight to go on the other leg and then that lag collapsed. It all seemed to happen so slowly: The front of the bed (where Johnny was tilted upward a little) feel toward the ground and as it did, Johnny's body aligned and there was a loud _CRACK!_ At the moment we didn't know it but Johnny's back had cracked because it had aligned, allowing it to be in position to heal. We didn't know it then, but a miracle would soon occur. (A/N: I know, it's a clichéd happy ending in the works, but come on. I love Johnny too much to let him die.)

Security got Mrs. Cade out and then doctors came rushing in to get Johnny onto a good bed and I had to leave.

I look back on it now and I wonder why I was shaking so badly when I left the hospital and why or by what miracle had Johnny not been pronounced dead on that spot. I look back on it now and I think the beer had gotten me crocked (though it usually takes more than ten because I have thick blood) because it was the only way that I could've given up hope on Johnny being okay and wanted to step in front of the bus that I took home. I thought that that crack was Johnny's spine finally giving in and I thought he had died, so I thought that by stepping in front of that bus I'd be with Johnny…. But I'd spent too much time on that thought and by the time that I'd finished it, I was pulling the cord for the next stop.

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Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review as you exit. Thank You 

-NY GE Pyromaniac


	6. A Painful Hell Part Two

_**Hey, tk421beth and Dangerous Combonation, I'm glad ya 2 liked it so much. sorry it took so long to update, but school's been a freakin pain in the ass and I really haven't ha dtime to even check my emails or reviews or anything fun in the last two months. But, hey, that's all over and now here's the next chapter, which I hope you enjoy just as much as you did the last one. Thanks for reviewing and do the same thing again when ur done with this chapter. Enjoy! **_

Ch. 6 – A Painful Hell Part Two

_**Faith's POV**_

When I got back home, only Ponyboy was there. He was sitting on the couch looking at an old photo album of mine. I already knew what picture he was staring at when I sat down next to him. It was the one of all of us at the local pool, where Two-Bit was doing a cannon ball off the high dive and Darry and Dally were cheering him on while Steve and Soda watched in awe and Johnny, Pony and I had a splash fight. Some lady at the pool who was taking pictures for her photography class took the picture about six years ago. She'd said that she had to take pictures and capture the emotions of people in one moment in time and it had to have at least three emotions or something like that. The picture of us was, according to her, full of four emotions and it got her and A+ in class. She made a copy of it for us and said that it was rare to get pictures like that in our neighborhood…. She was right. It was hard to find people who had a relationship like ours: full of love, sibling-like instincts in each other's protection and righteousness.

He sighed and said, "It was only a week and a half ago but it seems like it was five years ago that we were all okay and just finding out about you and Johnny."

I nodded, going numb.

For a while I just stared at the floor in a sort of shocked state of mind and I could feel Ponyboy staring at me. We stayed like that for a good five minutes until Ponyboy shifted and pulled me into his arms like Two-Bit or anyone else except for Johnny (he had a different way of doing that) would.

I wrapped my arms around his body and laid my head against his chest so that now I could hear his heart pounding against his ribcage like something that wanted out. His embrace was warm and welcoming like that of a brother.

His voice was soft as he spoke. "You coming to the rumble tonight?"

"Shit. I forgot about that…. I dunno…. You?"

"Yeah, I'm going and we're gonna win…for Johnny."

"…. Yeah, I'm going…. Weapons?"

"Nah, they fight fair…for once…those punks."

I honestly didn't care if they fought fair or not, I was going to the rumble and no one was going to stop me from killing those Socs…. I was going to make those Socs pay for what they did to us and for starting with Pony and Johnny that night…or at least die trying.

"I'll kill 'em, Pony, I swear…. I don't care if they've lost someone too – they deserve to die for all they've done. It's over now! I ain't taking this shit no more! It's their fault Johnny's gonna die and it's their fault that dumbass – Bob Sheldon – is dead! They started it and now they're gonna pay!" I was shaking now and Ponyboy squeezed tighter around me to keep me calm.

"Yeah…. You know what's sad though?"

"What?"

"That guy, Randy – Bob's best friend – he knows it's their fault and he feels bad about it, which is why he told me that he ain't fighting tonight. He said it don't matter who wins or loses…because it'll always be the same…the social class he meant…."

"He's right…but if they win it means nothing…. If we win it means that we overcame society's biggest menace: society itself. And we'll have pride to defend after that because we beat them and we need to rub it their face every chance we get, but in a discrete way so we don't look like them…like snobs or Socs."

"Yeah, true…. Hey, how was Johnny?"

I shuddered at the memory and hugged Ponyboy tighter as if trying to hide myself from it. I told him what'd happened at the hospital and when I was done I looked up at him and almost cried. The look on Ponyboy's face was one of fear and anguish. I guess he felt me staring at him because he turned his head to the side in an attempt to his now quivering lower lip and his eyes, which were now brimming with tears.

_God, why is this happening? Why Johnny? Why Pony? Why the gang? …. Why me?_

For a minute or two I just stared at Pony's now blonde, short hair and then, no longer being able to stand it, I turned his face toward mine, stared him in the eyes for a few seconds and then hugged him.

"You scared, Faith?"

"Yeah…. You?"

"Yeah…. He's too young…."

I nodded and let myself succumb to the sleep that was luring me into its warmth that lay with Pony's arms. Soon the sick feeling in my stomach, head and entire being went away with my consciousness far away from where I was, which was at the moment, in the middle of the vacant lot, staring at the gang…. The scene looked familiar…and it took me a while to figure out why, but when Johnny burst into flames and started screaming I realized that I was once again having the dream that had woke me only a week ago. However, this time Johnny hadn't said anything to me and _that_ was what woke me up because I was scared so badly by it. I don't know if it's true or not, but I've always thought that if you have a dream twice and someone who's talking to you in it the first time but not the second time, it means that that person has died. It's not like I just came up with that theory out of the blue – like Angel always thought. I began thinking that when I had a dream that Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were with me at church and saying, "Peace be with you," and the second time I had the dream they said nothing.

I jerked awake and knocked Pony's chin as I sat up and let go of him. "Sorry, Pony."

"It's okay…. Two-Bit, she's up," Pony said as everything came into focus.

The gang was now here and sitting around the living room. Soda and Darry were on the couch with us while Steve sat at the table and Two-Bit entered from the kitchen with a glass of water and some Tylenol that were very welcome at the moment.

"Finally. We thought we were going to have to amputate Pony's arms by the time you woke up because the circulation got cut off," said Two-Bit, handing me the Tylenol and water.

I tried to laugh but my head pounded along with vision. "How'd you know I'd have a headache?"

Pony got up, flexing and stretching his arms and Two-Bit sat down next to me saying, "You may think that only Johnny knows about your dreams, but you're my baby sister…it's my _job_ to know _everything_ about you…. I knew you'd have a headache because you were having one of those dreams…again."

I stared at him for a minute, completely in awe. All these years I've known how much Two-Bit loved and cared for me and I always thought that I'd appreciated it as much as I could, but now I knew that I'd never even come close…. Two-Bit had known all along about my dreams and never said anything about them because he knew I didn't want him to know…. Now, I could see how much Two-Bit wanted to keep me happy because he loved me so much. I took the Tylenol and handed him the glass.

He smiled and for the first time since the night at the Nightly Double I was calm and at peace. As he walked into the kitchen, Steve opened his big mouth and said, "Awww, lookit, Keith loves her," in a baby's voice.

Two-Bit came back out and smacked Steve upside the head saying, "Call me that again and I'll skin ya." He sat down at the table and looked out the window, a glazed over look on his face.

"Did ya visit Dally?" asked Sodapop as I leaned back into the sofa.

I shook my head and stopped quickly because it pounded painfully. "No, I left before I could even remember that he was in there…. I guess it just slipped my mind. I'll go tomorrow and deliver whatever news comes out of tonight."

Soda nodded and stared at me for a while.

I stared back and chuckled slightly at the memory of a time when I used to have the biggest crush on Soda and could barely think of him without getting a funny feeling in my tummy. Of course that crush was long gone, but not before he found out and had to make a choice: either make fun of me or make it easier for me to get over him. He chose the latter, contrary to what his usual behavior might imply. He'd broken it gently to me that I was only eight years old and too young to be thinking like that about an eleven year old who's going to be twelve. I looked back on that and started laughing my ass off even though my head ached.

"What?" he asked, a look of perplexity emerging on his hansom features. (Hey, I got over him – I never said he stopped being gorgeous.)

I laughed even harder and wrapped my arms around him saying, "Nothing, just remembering."

He pulled me closer and asked, "About?"

"When I was eight and you were eleven going on twelve," I said, looking him in the face.

He thought for a minute and then I knew it hit him. "Oh, I remember," he said, laughing.

We laughed as the other stared in confusion.

I fixed myself comfortably in the crook of his arm, his other arm wrapped over me, and looked at Two-Bit, who was still staring out of the window.

"What's on your mind, Mickey?"

"It's getting dark…. The rumble starts at sundown…. Faith, you ain't gonna fight."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Look, Mickey, I'm gonna fight and there ain't nothing you can do 'bout it. I know you wanna protect me and all, but I _need_ to fight and show them Socs that they _don't_ own everything, let alone anything on _this_ side of town."

He gave me and apprehensive look and I continued, "Two-Bit, you of all people should understand the feeling of overwhelming hate you feel when someone hurts someone you love…. And you of all people should know what that feeling of hate makes you wanna do, which is why you know I need to fight tonight…."

He gave me another apprehensive look, nodded and said, "Fine…but all of you better keep and eye on her and make sure she doesn't get hurt."

Kissing the top of my head, Soda said, "Always do, don't we? You know she can't be anywhere without one of us knowin' and watchin' her, Two-Bit."

"Of course she can't," said Steve. "She's the only girl in our gang and the baby at the same time."

I made to kick at him, but he jumped out of the chair and I decided against ripping myself from the warmth of Soda's arms to chase Steve. The Tylenol then began to kick in and soon my headache was gone, but I guess all the stress of the past week affected how the Tylenol worked on me because not only was my headache gone, but now I was numb…. Not 'my – leg – fell – asleep' numb, but numb so that I felt nothing – not even Soda's warmth or Darry's knee bouncing up and down because of his nerves. I felt drugged (in a bad way, not in the way I just was by the Tylenol), but I didn't say anything because I didn't want Two-Bit to think that I couldn't fight.

"We should get going…. Is it weapons or no?" asked Two-Bit, getting up and stretching.

"No…. No weapons but bring ya blade anyway. You know them Socs never fight fair," said Soda and we both got up.

"True…. Faith, I swear it: you get hurt and I'll go ballistic so _be careful_…please," said Two-Bit.

I looked him in his fear and worry filled eyes as they gleamed in the light and nodded. "I will."

Ten minutes later we were walking up to Tim Shepard and his crew in the vacant lot, and Darry was warning Soda and Pony about leaving if the fuzz show.

"Yeah, yeah, we know," said Pony, though I barely heard him through the pounding in my ears and I wasn't paying attention either. I was too busy trying to keep form reeling and passing out. I only snapped back to reality when Tim started howling with laughter at my being there to fight. I glared at him and waved him over to me.

He came forward but stopped just short of my arms reach and asked, "What?"

"A little closer," I said, waving again.

He stepped a little closer, fearfully.

"C'mon, I gotta tell you a secret."

"Well, okay, " he said, stepping up to me.

I smirked and smacked him upside the head. "Got anything else to say, Timmy?"

"No!" he yelled resentfully, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's what I thought. Now git!"

He walked back over to his crew and Two-Bit and said, "Ya sister has an attitude problem. She can't take a little joke."

Two-Bit laughed and came over to me saying, "Look, I don't have my switch with me so look for something that can help you if you need it…but _only_ if you need it. No stabbing people because you hate them."

"I know," I said, looking at the ground because now I was seeing two Two-Bits and I didn't know which one to talk to. "There're always some bottles over there by the gates…. I'll grab one if I _need_ it…otherwise I'll just kill the bastards with my bare hands."

He nodded and left me alone, knowing that I _would_ kill the fucking bastards with my bare hands.

I walked around for a while, kicking some spots of dirt, saying nothing to anyone around me except for the occasional 'hey' to people who greeted me. I had too much on my mind! Johnny's back had probably given in…he probably died…. This rumble would decide _everything_: who's stronger, who stays out of who's territory, and most of all…who one-upped the other…. We had to win…no matter _what_ we _had_ to win.

_So much shit rides on this rumble…. We _have_ to win!_ As that thought crossed my mind, the Socs arrived in their mustangs and khaki pants (high-waters).

I glared at them as we passed each other on our way to the our side of the 'ring'.

Darry was saying something to an old high school buddy of his (a Soc) who'd gone on to college when Darry couldn't. I didn't know what he was saying because I was trying hard now to keep from hitting the ground, but I still felt sorry for Darry. He deserved to go to college because he worked so hard to take care of Soda and Pony and watch out for the rest of us when he knew we were in trouble. He deserved it so much, but he couldn't have it because we were keeping him back (though he denied that we did).

He'd always said that he'd rather live a thousand 'dead – broke – taking – care – of – my – greaser – friends – and – brothers' life than one 'ha – ha – I – have – more – money – than – you – greasers!' life at any time…. I'd believed him because I knew that deep, down inside, Darry knew what he deserved (and should have it), but he also knew that if he got the things he deserved we (the gang) wouldn't come with them. So every time someone complained about not being able to have enough money, Darry always reminded him or her that with money comes hell and you lose those you love. Darry was smart like that…. Always was for as long as I could remember.

Without me even noticing, the rumble had begun and a Soc (a puny Soc, but a Soc) was coming at me.

I let him take then first swing (and miss), but I got the rest without missing once. In less than a minute the Soc was on the spinning ground and screaming bloody murder as I beat his face in and kneed him in the groin. I stopped only when I heard a nasty _CRACK_ that announced the breaking of his jaw and I moved, clumsily, to another Soc…one of the Socs that'd jumped Johnny.

He gasped when I spun him around to face me, but got over it quick and swung.

I tried to move out of the way but I didn't know which way to go because everything was spinning the other way of whichever way I looked, so he ended up socking me right in my gut…. _BAD MOVE_…. Since I'd eaten nothing all day, only stomach acid came up and splashed him in the face. (A/N: It's been a while since I've learned this kind of crap in fifth grade science so if the stomach acid stuff sounds a little weird, just bare with me and keep reading. Thanks.)

He screamed bloody murder…. Now, I knew that stomach acid burned when it came into contact with exposed flesh. He wiped away the liquid and, face now red with anger and burns, he charged at me. This time I moved quickly, but only my upper body so that I could trip him with my leg. As soon as he was on the ground, I made my way over to his head, brought my leg up so that my knee was hip height, hanging over his head and said, "You remember that kid you and your buddies beat up?"

"Yeah," he whimpered.

"_He_ killed your buddy…now you're gonna be with him soon."

"_Nooooooooo!_" he yelled as I began to bring my leg down…. I was really going to kill him…the physical score wouldn't be even but the social score would.

Everything was going in slow motion. My leg lowered slowly, but before it could even get within an inch of his forehead, I felt a sharp pain in my side.

**_Johnny's POV_** (No – he's not dead…. Yay!)

It was a painful hell! I thought I'd died when my back cracked, but it turns out that I'd only passed out form the pain I felt when my back cracked. When I woke up, the nurse had damn near suffocated me with attention until I asked what'd happened. Then she told me that I was 'a fucking medical miracle'.

Apparently my back, instead of giving in and killing me, had aligned allowing it to begin to be able to heal. It'd take a _long_ ass time for my back to heal and there was no guarantee that it would or that I'd be able to walk again…but I'd live. _That_ was for sure…. I'd live. I'd see Faith again. I'd see the gang again. I'd see Faith again. I'd go to school again. I'd see Faith again. I'd live out the rest of my life…with Faith…. I'd see Faith again!

At the moment I was lying flat on my back in a dimly lit room, facing the door. I wondered what the gang was doing right then…. I wondered what Faith was doing right then…. Was she crying again? Was she asleep? I hoped she was asleep instead of crying because not only couldn't I stand to see her cry, I couldn't even think of it…. She shouldn't have to cry…. She shouldn't feel pain…. She's too precious for that.

For a while I thought of how life would be when I got out, as I listened to the steady 'beep…beep…beep' of the machine next to my bed. I was supposed to be getting hooked up to another one because that one had stopped beeping a couple of times when I was passed out, which is how I almost ended up in the morgue with a tag on my toe. I laughed at that and soon fell asleep, dreaming of my life to be…with Faith….I get to see Faith again! Yay!

_**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but school's been hectic what with taking my PSATs for the first time and other highschool sophomore junk. Well, I have to go and do hw, but I promise I'll try to update the next chapter as fast as I can. As always, leave a review as you leave. Tx, much luv!**_

_**1,**_

_**NY GE Pyromaniac**_


	7. AN : Sorry

Dangerous Combination (lolz I got u reviews) and all my other reviewers whom I love so much for reviewing:

I'm so sorry I haven't been able to updat in a month and some odd days. I promise the next chapter is on its way. I'm typing it up as we speak. I havent't abandoned it (never will b/c I love The Outsiders). I'm not exactly sure when the next chapter will be up but it will be soon: I promise. You have a pyromaniac's word. Until then I don't know what you should do (hehe; if you like Xmen fanfictions read _Never Scared _shameless plug :-) or _A Whole New World)_. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing and loving the story as much as I loved writing it. Again, I apologize for the extreme delay (I never knew it would take this long) and I promise that if Spring musical practice, school midterms and finals don't kill me I might even consider finishig the sequal I have to this... I dunno tho...it really sux! Lolz! Anyways, I g2g. Much love to ya. Abrazos y besos para todos. Hasta luego.

-NY GE Pyromaniac


	8. Close Calls

A/N: First of all, I really do apologize for the extreme delay on this chapter, but if any of you are in high school sophomore year, you know it's really hectic especially when combined with bullshit drama. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Dangerous Combination, don't worry, you didn't offend me in anyway b/c I am a girl. I'm glad you and all my reviewers love this story so much and I hope you enjoy the rest. Anyways, here you go. Enjoy.

Ch. 7 – Close Calls

_**Dally's POV** _

Once the nurse did her rounds around the hospital and checked on me, she went back to the front desk. So I grabbed the chance to escape and go to the rumble. I grabbed the blade I got from Two-Bit, put on my clothes and snuck out.

When I got to the rumble site, it started immediately and I got right into it even though my arm was killing me. I'd taken three Socs and helped Pony out when a shrill scream filled the night air. It sounded like a fucking banshee.

I turned to see where it came form and got a slap in the face from shock when I saw a Soc with his hand over Faith's mouth, blocking her scream and putting a bloody knife away.

_She's hurt! He fucking stabbed her!_ I thought as the Soc tried to put the knife away and hold Faith up at the same time. _He's scared,_ I thought as I watched the Soc freak out at the amount of blood spilling from Faith's side and he tried to lay her on the ground next to his buddy, who was frozen with fear.

The other Socs had taken off by now (we won) and only the greasers and the two Socs remained.

"_You mother fucker_!" yelled Two-Bit as he jetted, bloodied up already, to the Soc. Hid famous right hook was ready before he even took two steps and when it was launched it his right on target: the Soc's jaw. A nasty sound filled the air. It was the sound of (as we later found out) the Soc's skull detaching from his spine. (A/N: not sure if that would kill him or not, but for my story's sake, let's say it won't.)

The Soc hit the floor…and he was lucky that only Two-Bit had gotten to him and when he was already tired and injured otherwise he'd have torn him to pieces and the rest of the gang (minus Johnny…no _and_ Johnny too when he was okay again!) would've torn those pieces into even smaller pieces…. **_Nobody ever_** hurts **_Faith_**…. **_Nobody_**….

Faith was now starting to cough up little specs of blood as Darry and Steve applied pressure to her wound by tying Steve's shirt around her. In between coughs, she clenched her teeth and tried to hold back yells of agony, which came out anyway.

"God!" she yelled, tears spilling from her eyes.

_Jesus, first Johnny, and now Faith…. Make this stop,_ I thought as I instinctively bent down and wiped away the tears. "You're gonna be okay, Faithy…. I promise."

"Dally? When the hell did ya get here?" she asked as Steve and Darry stood her up and supported her on their shoulders.

"When the fight started, sweetheart…. Soda, you and Pony go and get the car that's down the block. Here're the keys," I said, tossing Soda the keys. He and Pony ran off.

Two-Bit, obviously feeling that Darry and Steve weren't carrying Faith steadily or fast enough across the lot now came from behind her and scooped her up in his arms. He ran across the lot and put her in the car when Soda and Pony pulled up in it. We all jumped in with them and then we were on our way to the hospital. All the way there, Two-Bit rocked Faith gently and cursed the Soc who did this to her.

At the same time as we pulled up at the hospital, an ambulance pulled up too. I stayed back as the others took Faith up to the hospital to see who was in the ambulance. On a stretcher, carried by two paramedics and alongside the Soc who wasn't hurt, was the Soc whose skull and spine were detached. It was a disgusting sight, so I followed the others into and through the hospital.

Doctors came to our aid and took Faith to the emergency room. About an hour later, the main doctor emerged from the emergency room and said, "She'll be okay, but we need to keep her at least two to three days tops to make sure she stays stable."

"O-okay," said Two-Bit, wiping blood from a gash on his head, but only succeeding in smearing it with more blood from his split open knuckles.

"Oh, we need to get you cleaned up, Sir. Your name?"

"Kei – uh – Two-Bit Matthews," said Two-Bit, looking the doctor up and down.

"Oh, you're her – err – what are you to her?"

"I'm her brother," said two-Bit a little crestfallen.

I didn't realize it then, but Two-Bit had felt responsible for Faith's injury. He felt that he should've been less lenient on Faith when she demanded to fight…. He felt it was _his_ fault…. It wasn't…. It was nobody's (at least no greaser's) fault. Neither Faith's decision to fight or his decision to let her fight affected the fact that the Soc decided to pull out a knife and stab someone.

"Oh, I see…." The doctor guided Two-Bit into the emergency room.

I knew they were going to be in there for a while because Two-Bit definitely needed stitches and he hated any kinds of needles and he'd be talking to Faith after the stitches so I went to the front desk and asked where Johnny's room was.

The rookie nurse (same one who'd been in charge of me) told me he was just across from the emergency room and went back to playing solitaire.

I went into Johnny's room with Ponyboy and we kept really quiet because Johnny looked like he was asleep…. No he _was_ asleep because he wasn't dead…the machine was beeping…he _wasn't_ dead.

"Don't ever try to help anyone, Pony, because this is what you get in return…pain…death…. You better start getting smarter, Pony, and get hard like me. One of these days I'll take you and Johnny to New York and you guys and you guys will learn to be hard like me and to just walk by when someone needs your help."

Pony stayed quiet most of the time and only spoke to say, "We won, Johnny, …we won."

We just sat there in the room for a while, doing and saying nothing until the steady beeping of the machine went flat, signaling Johnny's death. (A/N: Don't worry…just keep reading on and you'll feel better.)

My head snapped up and Pony made a funny noise.

"No…. No, Johnny, ya can't die, man. Ya just can't die!" I yelled, getting up and shaking Johnny, but when he didn't wake up I gave up. "So this is what happens when ya try to help people, huh? Then _fuck this!_" I punched the wall and ran out of the room and hospital to somewhere I didn't know yet.

_**Two-Bit's POV** _

Don't laugh, but Faith was holding my hand as the doctor stitched me up and she was leaning against my shoulder. I knew I was squeezing her hand pretty tight, but I didn't think she'd mind too much because her mind was on the boy that lay on a bed across the hall.

As soon as the doctor finished, he left and said he'd be back soon to transfer Faith to another room, and we just stayed there.

"When can I leave, Mickey?" Faith asked a little sullenly.

I pushed her hair out of her face and said, "Two- three days tops…because you weren't injured too badly…the Soc missed any organs."

She nodded and said, "I know…but I ain't staying that long…. I'm leaving tonight. We can't afford for me to be in the hospital for so long."

"Faith, your health is more important than money…. You're staying and we'll figure out a way to pay for this."

"No…I'm leaving tonight, Mickey…."

I looked at her and noticed, for the first time, the fear in her eyes, which glittered with unshed tears.

Then it hit me…. "You're scared Johnny's gonna die, ain't you?"

Her lower lip quivered and she blinked a couple of times to keep tears from spilling. She couldn't so she turned away and nodded, now shaking. "Did pony tell you guys what happened?" she asked, sucking it up and facing me.

I nodded and pulled her closer to me. No one in the gang liked to see Faith cry (though she hardly ever did…except for lately), but no one hated it more than I did. This was because ever since our dad walked out on us and mom had to work damn near 24/7, I've felt like I was more than Faith's brother and friend…. I was the one who had to basically raise her and teach her everything she knew…the good and the bad things…_everything_. When you do these things, a really strong connection is formed between you and whoever the other person is and this connection causes you to feel all the joy, pain – everything the other person feels. That's why I hated it when Faith cried…because it hurt.

A few minutes later the doctor came back to take Faith to another room, but before he even got a word out, Steve burst in and said, "Dally's gone1 He ran our from Johnny's room."

Faith's head shot up and she hopped off the bed and ran out of the room, out of the hospital all together. We followed her as the doctor yelled at out backs. We all just ran and ran until we reached the Curtis place and Faith picked up the ringing phone.

As she spoke to whomever it was I asked Pony what it was that had made Dally run.

"Johnny died…he just died."

"Shit," I said as Faith gave Darry the phone.

"He wants you," she said, gasping for air. She really shouldn't have been running with a wound that, at the moment was only tied up with hospital tape and Steve's shirt.

"Hey, Soda, gimme one of your shirts. I'm fucking freezing," Steve said, noticing that his shirt was coming loose on Faith and tightening it around her.

Soda went and got another shirt for Steve and when he returned, Darry said, "Dally's just robbed a store. He wants us to meet him at the lot."

"Let's go," said Faith, helping Steve with his shirt. (A/N: Ever notice how the stupidest/funniest things happen when no one will care?)

Ten minutes later, we were down at the vacant lot, waiting for Dally to show.

_Man, how did things get so screwed up?_ I thought as I watched Faith, sitting atop the hood of an abandoned car, absent-mindedly play with Steve's hair. That was proof that everyone and everything was out of whack because Steve never let _anyone_ touch his hair before or after he got it into complicated curls.

Johnny, the gang's little brother, was dead and Dally was going to blow…. He'd been the only thing Dally ever really loved or cared about along with Faith, though he hardly ever showed it. Without Johnny, I really didn't know how the gang would go on. Everyone in the gang was somehow connected deeply with Johnny and his death would devastate all of us.

For some reason, I didn't want to believe Johnny was dead…. He couldn't be! He was on the verge of starting a new, happy life and then this shit happens. What the fuck? How messed up can things get? It wasn't fair. Not for Johnny. Not for the gang…especially Faith…. I knew for a fact that Johnny was the only guy she ever loved and would love the way she loved him and she deserved to be happy with him. What she didn't deserve was to have to bury her boyfriend of one week who she's loved since day one of her life and have to live out the rest of her life without the one guy who could ever make her as happy as she could be…. It wasn't fair.

I leaned against a gate, closed my eyes and started to relax a little, but just as my mind began to slow down, sirens and yells filled the air. Everyone's head shot up at the sound of Dally's yelling, "Come and get me, ya pigs! Come and get me!"

"Shit, Dally! Shit!" Faith cursed, jumping from the hood of the abandoned car and taking a few steps before Soda stuck out his arm to stop her. Normally, she'd have shoved her way past Soda's arm, but shock had overcome her (obviously) and she just stared as Dally came into view, followed closely by four squad cars – sirens going and lights flashing.

"You mother fuckers won't get me!" yelled Dally, running up the street of the vacant lot and reaching into an inside pocket.

"Not the gun, Dally, not the gun," Ponyboy begged under his breath.

Faith gave him a 'huh?' look and then turned back to Dally. Her eyes widened. "_NO!_" she yelled as Dally pulled out the heater. "Dally, no!"

Too late…Dally had pulled out the unloaded gun he'd been carrying around as a bluff and the cops had seen it.

Gunfire rang and echoed in the night and our screams of "No!" and "He's just a kid!" were drowned in the commotion.

When Dally went down, everyone went numb and just stared for a few seconds until Faith gasped and ran at breakneck speed to him. We soon followed and saw that Dally was still breathing. Faith checked his pulse and said, "Shallow, but it's there…. Call and officer over here and tell him to help us get him to a hospital…because it's the least he could do because he's one of _them_." She glared at the cops as she ordered Steve around.

Steve went and did as he was told as faith lifted Dally's head and said, "You're gonna be okay, Dal…I promise." Steve returned with a cop…a rookie cop, but a cop.

The cop, at first, refused to help us (even though by law he's required to get and injured lawbreaker to a hospital), but then when Faith spoke privately with him for a minute, he changed his mind.

Ten minutes later, we were back at the hospital and Dally was being rushed to the emergency room.

_I could really use a beer or a weed right now_, I thought as I paced the lobby and the others watched me. _Fuck! Man, Dally too? God, why are you doing this? You're gonna kill us _all_ without even touching the rest of us! God, please stop this and make it better…. None of us is strong enough to handle this…. Please stop._

Everything was deathly silent as I took a seat next to Darry who had Pony's head in his lap so he could sleep and he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be alright," he said and I nodded. Maybe he was just saying that to keep the others and me calm, bur we had to believe it…. Things _had_ to be okay….

_**Faith's POV** _

_Please let Dally be okay…. Don't take him away, God, don't take him away. He needs to stay with us…. Damn You, God! You already took Johnny! Leave Dally…leave Dally,_ I thought as I stared at the pendant that the paramedic had gotten off of Dally when he went in for the emergency operation. He'd handed it to me and said, "You keep it, Faith…. He said he wanted you to have it." I've been staring at it the whole time and was still staring at it as though it would keep Dally from dying if I did.

_Yeah right_, I thought as I coiled the chain up and stowed it away in my pocket. I sighed and covered my face with my hands to try to block out everything and everyone around me. I winced as I did so and leaned forward so that my elbows were on my knees, which made the pain in my side subside. You know, people are _very wrong_ when they say that one pain numbs another…. No really, they are because first I went through seeing and feeling Johnny die and then I got stabbed and that didn't numb the pain that I felt in having to let Johnny go. Now, Dally's hurt (and might die), but neither of the other two pains was gone.

I felt someone's hand on my back and my head shot up in surprise, but I calmed down when I realized that it was just Steve.

"Whoa! Easy, Faith, it's just me," he said, his usually mischievously gleaming eyes soft and filled with (for the second time tonight) worry and fear. The first time was when he was tying his shirt around my stab wound. Now, it was because we had to members of our gang who were as good as dead and he was reaching out to me.

At the moment, I really didn't feel like opening up to anyone, but I'd male an exception for Steve because, due to his mischievous, happy-go-lucky personality and behavior, he never really saw the dark side of things so he never needed anyone to confide in…except for once in a while, Soda, and that was about girls. This time I knew he needed to get something out and off of his chest so we stood up and walked over to the other side of the lobby, where it was quiet and lonely.

We sat down and faced each other. For a minute, we both said nothing and then Steve's lower lip trembled and his eyes began to glitter. What Steve held back was proof of the fact that things were way out of whack and causing each of us to go through hell. The last time Steve had shed a tear was two years before I was born, according to his father. He was one and he'd fallen face first off his high chair – man, he bawled like the baby he was. But ever since then, he'd never shed a single tear…and he obviously wasn't going to ruin his record now.

He sucked it up and laughed as he said, "Oh shit! That was close. No need for me to cry. You've already cried enough for all of us tonight."

I scoffed and shook my head as he laughed.

It was hard to decipher where Steve stood in the gang. I mean, yeah, he was Soda's best friend, but what he was to _us_ was what people had a hard time trying to figure out. Dally was the bad ass from New York, the rebel without a cause or a clue. Darry was the strong one, the one we all depended on. Soda was the hot one, the one who every girl has had a fantasy about…and some guys too. Pony was the calm, smart, sensitive one…the dreamy one who hardly ever fought. Johnny was the gang's little brother, loved by all of us…the one we couldn't go one without. Two-Bit was the wise ass, the one who could always make us laugh with the stupidest jokes. I was his baby sister, the gang's baby sister and the baby, the one who was spoiled and coddled by each of them.

Steve, however, was hard to place. He was just Soda's best friend to everyone else, but to us he was a member of the gang we'd always need. He was the heart and soul of the gang, what made our gang the stereotypical greasers. He was never afraid to get down and dirty and he was hard as nails when he needed to be. Other times he was good old mischievous Steve, playing tricks on people and pulling them off without a hitch. To me, Steve was always gentle and sensible when he spoke. To the guys he was rough and acted like an idiot unless he was serious about something, and then he'd quit the act and out would come his true intelligence.

Steve's not as dumb as people might say he was because of the way he behaved. He was _really_ smart, not too book smart, but street smart and smart about what to except in life. Steve was realistic about things. He never bothered to sugar coat things unless someone needed it (like I did a few hours ago). Other than those times, he was very straightforward with you: if you were in denial about something, he'd be the one to snap you out of it with harsh but true words. That's just the way Steve was. Honest…even if it gets him killed…. But I'd never let him be _that_ honest.

He was staring past me at something on the wall near the emergency room: maybe a notice or an ad on the wall. He looked back at me and said, "He'll be okay…he's tough."

"Yeah, and tuff. Bullets can't stop him," I said, stretching. I was tired and the loss of blood wasn't helping. I blinked a couple of times and yawned.

"It's like the world's been turned upside down on us," he said softly, now staring at the tile floor. "This is bullshit, you know. We never did anything more than beat people up and we get _this_? C'mon! Bullshit! Johnny may have killed that Soc, but he rescued those kids…he's a hero…. Why is he about to die? He doesn't deserve after all those fuckin' years of his mom telling him he's worthless, his father beatin' him and them Socs jumpin' him…he _don't_ deserve it…. _We_ don't deserve this."

I looked up at him as I rested my head on my hands and I saw the fires of anger burning in his eyes.

He was right. None of us deserved this and he knew and was probably going to make sure that we were compensated for the hell we were put through.

"When this is over, Steve, me, you and the gang…we're gonna party our asses off. We deserve _that_."

He smirked and said, "Yeah…but no more alcohol for you. You can't hold it down too good."

"Fuck you," I said, laughing and rubbing my eyes.

"I know you wanna…but what about me doin' you? Will Johnny and Two-Bit mind?" he asked flirtatiously cocking an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me? You saw Two-Bit did to that Soc. What's to stop him from doing the same or worse to you?"

"True," he said, laughing and stretching.

I looked at the clock that hung on the wall and realized why we were both so tired: it was two thirty in the morning. I yawned and leaned back in the chair, closing my eyes. "Wake me up when we can see Dally…. Actually, never mind. I'm gonna go see Johnny."

He nodded, but didn't offer to come along.

_He can't take it yet_, I thought as I began walking to Johnny's room. When I walked in, he wasn't in there. _Did they move him?_

When Two-Bit followed me in, he answered my question.

"They probably already took him to the morgue," he said, wrapping his arms protectively around me.

Shock, fear, pain and realization course through me like a bolt of lightening and it hurt so much that, without me wanting to, I fell to my knees and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"No! No! No! He's not dead! He can't be! He ain't!" I yelled, thrashing against Two-Bit's grip on me and banging my fists on the floor. "He ain't dead! Johnny ain't dead!"

Tears blurred my vision as Darry and Pony (who'd woken up) came rushing in asking, "What's wrong?"

Two-Bit looked up at them with, for the first time ever, tears in his eyes and said," I just told her about Johnny."

So many emotions coursed through me: Pain and shock at Johnny's death; sadness at seeing Two-Bit near tears and anger at finding out that Two-Bit had already known that Johnny was dead.

'Oh…. Faith, you gotta look at it this way: he died a hero and is now in a better place," Darry said.

I gave him an incredulous look and shook my head. He was out of his damn mind saying that.

"Faith," Darry said, kneeling in front of me and attempting to hug me, but I jumped up and ran out of the room. I kept running down corridors and through doors until I reached a dead end in the recovery ward. By then I was out of breath and the wind that'd hit my face as I ran had dried my tears so that now the area around my eyes felt stiff and sticky.

As I caught my breath in shuddering gasps, I walked into a dark room and over to the window. There was someone in the room but I didn't bother to look because if it wasn't Johnny there was no point. I stared out of the window at the town lights: the 24/7 Deli-Grocery…the neon green motel sign…just lights. I wondered if anyone in there was in as much pain as I was. Or if there was anyone who'd just lost a loved one. If there was, I sympathized with that person. I really did because that kind of pain is indescribable. The best way I could put it was: it feels like someone is pouring acid down your throat and into your stomach and when it burns through it starts burning your heart…slowly killing you.

My eyelids got heavier with every beep of the heart rate machine next to the patient's bed. I closed my eyes for a minute, but they snapped open when the person stirred.

_Oh shit! They're waking up,_ I thought as I looked over at the bed. I began to walk across the room and was almost out when a nurse came in and switched on the light.

"What're you doing in here?" she'd asked, but I didn't hear her.

When the lights had gone on, my head swiveled toward the bed and I received a _HUGE_ shock.

"Johnny?" I asked softly before the edges of my vision began to get dark and fuzzy.

"Mmmm?" the boy, who couldn't have been Johnny, said.

See, that's where I had a problem. The boy looked like Johnny, tuff scar on his cheek and everything. He sounded like Johnny too, but Johnny was dead according to Two-Bit. I _had_ to be dreaming.

_Yeah, that's it,_ I thought before everything went dark and I collapsed.

_**Johnny's POV** _

I was still a little groggy and a lot in pain, but I could recognize Faith's voice and I could feel the confusion in it. Why was she confused? What's happened? She probably thought I'd died when the bed collapsed.

_Yeah, that's it,_ I thought as she hit the floor.

The nurse, who'd come in to check on me and make sure my new beeping machine was still beeping, growled and said, "Damn faintin' broads. I _had_ other things to do and now this is gonna keep me."

"Hey, watch it! That's my girl you're complainin' about. Now, just do your fuckin' job, bitch, instead of frontin' and acting like you have a life." (A/N: Yeah, I know. Kind of stupid, but definitely funny.)

"Go to sleep, grease," she said, catching the attention of a nurse that was passing by and asking her to help her with Faith.

"Fuck you," I said, wanting to go back to sleep and talk to Faith at the same time.

"You wish you could and so do I – 'cause you're cute – but I'm too much for even a guy with a strong back to handle…. What do you think I'll do to you?"

I scoffed and said, "Not even if you paid me…no offense to your future career as a prostitute."

She scowled at me and said nothing after that.

The two nurses put Faith on the bed opposite mine and did a vital signs check on her and then just made sure I was doing okay. The nurse who was originally there to check on me cut out and left the other nurse, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty queen, to look after both of us. She was really sweet as she spoke to me and gave me a couple of painkillers.

"Do you know how lucky you are to be alive, sweetie?"

I swallowed the pills and looked over at Faith.

She was covered up and her hair was spread over the pillow so that it looked like she had a glowing halo around her head. Her chest rose and fell with every breath she took and she just looked so peaceful.

I nodded. "Yeah…I do."

About an hour or so later, after the nurse had changed Faith's hospital tape for the stab wound a Soc had given her during the rumble (Dumb fuck is lucky only Two-Bit got to him) and had hooked her up to a morphine pack for reasons unbeknownst to me, Faith began to stir.

I sat up, a painful thing to do now, and just watched her as she too sat up and rubbed her eyes.

_She's like a child,_ I thought and smiled.

For a minute, she just sat there, taking in her surroundings and then she looked at the huge needle sticking out of he right hand. She, unlike Two-Bit, was not afraid of needles so she just pulled it out and wrapped her now bleeding hand in a piece of cloth that she'd torn from the blanket she was covered in. She looked around herself some more and then, probably still tired, leaned back against the pillows she'd stacked up. She must've had a rough night to be so tired.

Looking at her, I wished I could have her next to me so that I could make whatever was wrong in her life better. More than that, I wished I could kiss her again. It's been only a week since I last kissed her, but it's felt like an eternity. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the mix of morphine and painkillers was kicking in, I'd get up and go to kiss her.

_Well, she can get up, can't she? She's really tired, though,_ I thought as the pain in my legs and back subsided a little. I found it a little strange that my back could support me sitting up, but the doctors said that that was because I was a fast healer and because I was motivated to walk again and that made me stronger. The burns on my body would leave scars, but that's nothing compared to the alternative. The scars wouldn't be much, but they'd be there to remind me of this time in my life…that is something that I'm not really so sure on whether or not I want to remember.

Faith sighed and sat back up, sounding frustrated.

A question lingered in my mind: Why had she passed out when she saw me? And now, another one had arisen: Why wasn't she talking to me? Did she not know it was me?

Normally, I'd have said something to let her know it was me, but the drugs had impaired my thought process and made me just sit there, wondering why she wasn't talking until she started crying.

_**Two-Bit's POV** _

I wanted to run after Faith and numb the pain I knew she felt, but Darry held me back and said, "She needs time…. Give her time." I nodded and sat down for a while and then I began pacing for about forty-five minutes until a doctor emerged from the emergency room, covered in spots of blood.

"Are you the family of Dallas Winston?"

"Biologically – no, but yeah we are," I said quickly.

The doctor gave me a strange look and said, "Okay. Well, he's in stable condition now and…" Some doctors came out of the room with Dally and moved him to another room down the hall and around the corner. "We're going to put him in recovery. You can visit him in the morning."

"Okay," said Darry, a look of relief spreading over his jagged face.

I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't relived that Dally was going to be okay, but I was still kind of brooding over Johnny's death (hell, who wasn't) and that hurt look on Faith's face when she found out, so I didn't relax. I just pace some more until Steve, now back in his original seat said, "That was way too close of a call. It could've been two…instead of just one."

He must've heard Faith's yelling, because I sure didn't tell him about Johnny. He was right though. It _would_ have been two.

I shook my head and continued to pace, wondering what Faith was doing at this very moment…. I knew she was still in pain…. I could feel it in my stomach…. It hurt a lot and I knew it hurt her more…she was still young and didn't know how to handle someone's death too good. She proved that when Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died: she stopped eating and sleeping and we had to take her to the hospital to metabolize her so that she wouldn't die. I was scared of what she'd do now that it was the love of her life (A/N: so clichéd) that was dead. I was hoping she wasn't suicidal…she was the only biological part of my family who I can communicate with on a full scale…. I needed her.

_Help her, God…help her,_ I thought and continued pacing.

_**Faith's POV** _

When I woke up, I'd seen who I thought was Johnny, but couldn't possibly be him because he was dead. So I distracted my self with things until there was no more to do and just leaned back. I was still a little tired, but not tired enough to distract me form the fact that there was a boy laying across from me that looked like my dead boyfriend, so I just sat back up for a minute and thought of reasons as to why I was seeing Johnny when he was dead.

_You're hallucinating,_ I thought and decided that maybe I _was_ hallucinating. Maybe I _wanted_ to convince myself that Johnny was dead, but, psychologically, I didn't want to accept it. Maybe this was my way of telling myself that I want Johnny back. Duh! I really _did_ want Johnny back. I wanted him to hold me in his arms and tell me that this whole nightmare was over and that we'd all be okay and live happily ever after (A/N: what the hell is with the clichés?) I wanted him to kiss me again, to make everything better again.

The frustration of wanting what I would never ever have again cause a fresh wave of tears to spill from my eyes and sobs to rock my body. So many things were wrong and there was no way of fixing them, and being in there with my hallucination of Johnny wasn't helping. So, I jumped out of the bed and was almost out the door when the hallucination spoke.

"Faith, no…stay…please," hallucination Johnny said.

I stopped, turned and walked over to the bed where my hallucination lay, ceasing my tears and sobs. I stared at him, open-mouthed, for a minute and almost walked away thinking I'd finally cracked when the hallucination (or so I thought it was an hallucination) reached out and wiped away my tears. When a tingling sensation spread all over my body from the spot he touched, I knew that everything that'd run through my mind in the last few minutes was wrong. This was Johnny. It really was him and I knew it because only _he_ could make my skin tingle like that when he touched me.

I touched his hand and felt the warmth it held inside. "Johnny," I said, gripping his hand now and touching his face. "It's really you? I'm not goin' crazy?"

He laughed his laugh and said, "No, baby, you're not goin' crazy…. It's me. I'm okay. Everything's okay."

In the split second before we leaned in to kiss each other, I took in his every feature and made sure he was real. He was real all right. Johnny had a certain style of kissing me and though I've only felt it a few had a certain style of kissing me and though I've only felt it a few times, I knew it every time I did. I sat on the bed and, forgetting that his back was injured, pushed him slowly onto the stacked pillows, but stopped when he gasped in pain.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry, Johnny. I forgot," I said, pulling away.

"It's okay. The pain is worth it…. Besides it's balanced out: pain and your kisses. It's like heaven and hell," he said, pulling me into his arms and kissing me again.

After about ten to fifteen minutes of nonstop kissing we broke apart and I laid down next to him my head on his chest and our hands interlocked. As I listened to his steadily beating heart and stared at our hands, I remembered that day a week ago when he first kissed me and our hands were interlocked when we reached Two-Bit and Julia. I chuckled at how quickly we pulled apart our hands to hide what'd just happened from Two-Bit. I looked back on that and thought, _never again, honey. I'll never again let go._

I opened my mouth to say something, but the squeaking of some wheels and some doctors complaining interrupted me.

"How can all the rooms be taken? How many people are recovering?" asked a doctor as he and a colleague came in, rolling a bed on wheels into the room. On the bed was an unconscious Dally. "Thank God! A free bed!" They moved him from the bed on wheels to the bed that I'd been on and moved the morphine pack that was attached to me to make room for his.

Before they left, the doctor who was complaining turned to us and said, "Hey, love birds, just so you know, there're condoms hidden in a baggie underneath the mattress you're on. Just make sure you don't make too much noise.

Johnny laughed a little and then said, "Awww shit! That means that people have fucked in this bed. Awww, that's disgusting!"

I, however, was staring at Dally in relief. He was in recovery. He'd be okay…like Johnny would. I smiled and went back to listening to Johnny's heartbeat.

He then asked what'd happened to Dally and I told him about Dally thinking he was dead and exploding…going crazy and robbing a store, being chased and shot down by cops. Johnny just stared at Dally when I was done and shook his head. "Does the gang think I'm dead?"

"Yeah."

"It was probably the stupid machine that was one the fritz…. I was sleeping, not dead. That's why they moved me here because needed a new machine and I almost ended up in the morgue because of that other machine."

"Oh…. Well, I'm glad you didn't," I said as everything got quiet and we soon fell asleep.

_**The Next Morning** _

"Pony, you said he died," I heard Two-Bit's shocked voice say in a whisper as I pulled back into the real world from my dream state.

"I thought he was! The machine stopped beepin' so I assumed he was dead," said Pony as my eyes fluttered open.

"Didn't you think to check his pulse?" asked Steve.

"I didn't want to hurt him by touching his burns," said pony.

"You just said that you thought he was dead! How can you hurt someone if they're _dead_?"

I chuckled and everything went quiet.

"Did she just laugh?"

"I dunno…. Shh!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"Both of you shut the fuck up!"

Soda and Steve blew raspberries at Darry and by now I was cracking up.

They obviously saw me shaking with laughter because they alls hut up and I felt them staring at me now.

"Faith?"

"Yeah?" I said, carefully sitting up so that I didn't wake Johnny or hurt him. "What d'you want?"

"You run off in the middle of the night, spend it sleeping in the same bed as Johnny under the influence of morphine and loss of blood and vulnerability and you wanna know what we want?" asked Two-Bit, getting up and towering over me.

I nodded slowly, wondering where sweet and crazy Two-Bit had gone and why strict Two-bit was here.

"Oh, okay…. We just wanted to know where you went. You know, to make sure you were okay," he said, rubbing away dried up drool from my chin.

_Okay, there goes crazy and sweet Two-Bit._

I smiled and asked, "Dally wake up yet?"

"Yeah, about half an hour ago to get a sponge bath. You had to see the look on his face when he found out it had to be a male nurse," said Steve, smirking and handing me a bagel and a carton of orange juice.

I laughed as I took a bite of the bagel and felt relieved when I did because, I hadn't noticed in all the chaos, I was starving and I knew my stomach was making noises as I slept. No one really said anything as I wolfed down my food except for Steve, who was back to his usual self. He said, "Hey, uh, Faith, ever think about breathing in between swallows?"

"That's what my nose is for, Steve."

When I was done, Two-Bit threw out the trash and asked, "Feel better?"

I thought about it for a minute and nodded. I _did_ feel better. Johnny and Dally were okay… and besides the fact that Johnny had to go through a _lot_ of physical therapy, everything was back to the usual. Or so I thought until about fifteen minutes later, Darry, Soda and Pony stood up to leave.

"Where're ya'll goin'?" I asked adjusting myself next to Johnny.

"Juvenile Court…gotta keep these two out of a boys' home…. Cherry and that other Soc said that they'd testify to the fact that they (the Socs who tried to jump them) were drunk the night Johnny killed Bob…. Johnny only has to give a statement and if luck's on our side these two (Johnny and Pony) will only get community service and Soda and Pony can stay home," said Darry, putting on his coat and (like a parent) putting Pony's coat on him.

"Oh…. Good luck," I said a little shakily but feeling a little more relaxed at Darry's walkthrough. He always made even the most complicated of things seem simple.

About a minute or two after they left, Dally came in, supported by a male nurse, and he looked pissed.

"I was just doing my job," the effeminate nurse said.

"Well, next time, just don't do _that_ part of your job. I can wash _that_ part of me on my own, thank you," said Dally, trying very hard to walk on his own so that the make nurse would have very little reason to touch him. When he got to the bed, he covered himself in the covers and said, "You may leave now. I don't need to be violated anymore."

"…You're cute when you're all flustered up," the nurse said before leaving.

A split second later, the room was filled with roaring laughter from Steve and Two-Bit and cursing from Dally. As Steve and Two-Bit laughed, I got up, slowly, from the bed and made my way over to Dally.

I wanted to jump up and hug him, but I was afraid I'd hurt him so, I just sat on the edge of his bed and stared at him until he spoke.

"What's the matter? Am I diseases or something? Give me a hug, Faithy!"

I smiled and nearly suffocated him with a huge hug. Man, I was scared that Dally was going to die. I always thought that Dally was the one member of the gang that didn't give a crap about us so that's why I thought that, if he died, it wouldn't faze us…. But I was wrong…. If Dally had died, we'd be just as devastated as we'd be if Johnny had died. We'd have no rebel without a cause or clue in our gang if Dally died.

"Awww, Faithy, I was worried 'bout you," he whispered as he pushed my hair back and studied me for a minute. "Your wound feelin' any better?"

To be honest, my wound hurt a little, but only when the area around it or the wound itself was touched. So I nodded and said, "Yeah…. Doesn't hurt as much as it should, but who's complainin' right?"

He laughed and looked over at Johnny's bed.

I assumed he already knew that Johnny was alive and would be okay.

"Johnnycake…he's lucky…. I still don't get it, but hey, I ain't complainin'…. You'll be there for him, right? Through the physical therapy and everything, right?"

I nodded and said, "Of course. I'm just a little nervous about the hearing…the statement he has to make. Will they believe the truth? I mean, Johnny always tells the truth, but will they take a greaser's word for it?"

"Unless they want a lawsuit on their hands, they're _gonna_ believe Johnny…grease3r or not because it's the truth."

I nodded and for a while, Dally and I just talked about how we were going to get him out of jail later.

"Dunno…. This is my third strike…judge might incarcerate me this time."

"Nah…you _could_ plead temporary insanity, you know. They make you go to a couple of psychiatric hospital meetings, but that's it…. It's annoyin', but it's better that incarceration."

Dally looked at me like I was crazy for a minute, but then, after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "Yeah, true…. Exactly how many meetings?"

"Just until they think you're not gonna snap again."

"So, I'll just act like I usually act and I'll be done after one meeting."

"Ummm…I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you do that, then they'll know you was fakin' it to go free."

"True…then make it two meetings."

"That's better."

He scoffed and we just kept talking from across the room with Two-Bit and Steve until Johnny started groaning and then, a few seconds later, woke up screaming bloody murder.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!" he yelled as he sat up and gripped his sheets.

I was off of Dally's bed and at Johnny's side in two hops.

"Johnny, what's wrong?"

"Fuck! My back is in fucking _pain_!"

"Call, the nurse, Dally," Steve said.

"Hello! Bullet wounds!" said Dally, gesturing to him self.

"Dumbass, with the button thingy that when you push it, it calls the nurse," yelled Two-Bit, trying to get Johnny to lay back, but Johnny thrashed forward and screamed, "Fuck!" again.

"Oh…."

As everyone panicked, I grabbed hold of Johnny's hand and he squeezed my hand in agony. I squeezed back and whispered, "It's okay, baby. It'll be all right. I know it hurts…but it'll stop," as I rubbed his back with my free hand. I followed the dent in his back, where his spine was, and that seemed to calm him a little, though it freaked me out because I could feel his back healing.

When the nurse came, Johnny was a little calmer but still in pain.

She said that the painkillers had worn off and that that's why he woke up in pain. So she gave him some more painkillers and then left us with him and a promise to check up on him in a few hours. I found it a little funny that she could get fired if she didn't keep her promise.

A few minutes later, another nurse (an elderly woman) came in with a tray of hospital food for Johnny.

"Sorry, Johnny, sweetie, but you _have_ to eat it. I know it tastes like crap and if it were up to me, I'd take you to the Tasty Freeze and let you pig out."

"Awww, it's alright, Loretta. I'd rather eat this than feel the pain anyway."

The elderly nurse laughed and fluffed Johnny's pillows before leaving.

"She's sweet," I said as Two-Bit and Steve went over to talk with Dally about something private.

"Yeah…she ain't playin' with a full deck of cards, but she's nice," Johnny said, poking at the red gelatin on his tray. "Yuck! There's nothing that makes you want Jell-O more than red glob that tastes like medicine."

I smirked and, wanting him to be well nourished and be strong enough for the statement he had to make later, I picked up the spoon and said, "Here. You have to eat. I know it tastes like shit, and now I wish I saved half of that bagel I had earlier, but you need to eat." I began spoon-feeding him to lukewarm soup with some difficulty at first, but then when I kissed him, he caved and ate it himself.

He was slick. Every time he finished something on his tray, he'd stop eating until I kissed him and even then I'd have to feed it to him. When he was done, he pushed the tray aside and pulled me up to him.

I stared into his warm black eyes and just dwelled happily on the fact that he was okay. But the fact that he'd been put through so much pain in such a short period of time made me sad. I wanted to make it better for him, but I had to be patient. I did, after all, have the rest of our lives to make it better.

"What're you smiling 'bout?" he asked, cupping my face and stroking my cheek with his thumb. His hand was warm so I leaned into it and kissed his palm. I hadn't even realized that I was smiling, but now I knew I was smiling big. He smiled too and his eyes sparkled.

"Just smiling," I said, grabbing his other hand and interlocking it with mine.

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**Finally! Man, again, I apologize for the delay and I promise the next chapter will be up much faster than this one. I send much love and thanks to all thoe people who've reviewed this story (especially those who almost when insane waiting for this chapter - lolz) and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest. I probably would have stopped this story a long time ago if it weren't for you guys. Thanks again. Now, I g2g, but I'll be back soon.**

**1 love,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac **


	9. Shit Happens Get Over It

A/N: Told it's be up a whole lot faster than the last one. :-D Anyways, glad you guys enjoyed the last chap and I just wanted to get this chapter up before anything bad happened to my computer. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's extremely short but at least it's something right?

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Ch. 8 – Shit Happens…Get Over It_**Johnny's POV** _

Later that day, I sat upright in my hospital bed an gave my statement. It was the truth – _everything_ that happened, the _way_ it happened. The judge (who came not only to get my statement and cast a verdict, but also to visit me and see how I was after that bit of heroism) said, "Okay, I think we've heard all we need to hear. You take care now, Johnny Cade, _and_ your little lady…she seems to love you a whole lot…. You're a _very_ lucky man. I'll be back tomorrow at this time with the verdict."

The next day he told me that because _he_ and _many_ other people viewed Pony and I as heroes for saving those kids we didn't even have to serve community service and that Pony and Soda were going to be able to stay with Darry as long as they stayed out of trouble for another year. That was the first of many good things to come in the next few weeks and months. Dally went free on a technicality: the cops had outnumbered him eight to one and shot him without even knowing for a fact that that what he'd pulled out was a gun. My back healed little by little over the next few months with the help of physical therapy. I had to learn to walk all over again, but it came to me quickly. After six months had passed since the night Faith had been stabbed, I was able to walk again – I was back to normal – and both Faith and Dally had healed with only scars left behind. The skin grafting had worked extremely well and left almost no very visible scars. Once in a while my back would hurt badly, but that was just minor fractures that hadn't completely healed yet and five to six more months of physical therapy ended that.

You could definitely say that it was a hectic year, but everything was good now. Sure, I had a newly formed reputation at school as soon as I got back, but it made me look tough and the Socs leave me and Pony alone. The Socs stayed the hell away from me and the gang and our friends. The greasers held us in really high respects and every once in a while one of them would come up to me and ask me if I'd do it again. To be honest…I wished I hadn't done it the first time, but if I were pushed far enough, I'd kill again. That answer kept greasers, who thought I was cocky, at bay.

By now I was used to the respect, but not the fear because I really wasn't someone you should fear. I wasn't dangerous or vicious. I was just in love with the most beautiful girl in the world who _knew_ the _real_ me. I wanted to protect her from anything and anyone that'd hurt her and each time some ass wipe tried to touch her, I'd give him what everyone had dubbed 'The – Look' and he'd stop. It's a funny feeling when people fear you: you like it, but then it gets monotonous. But I didn't mind because I had the gang. To them I was just regular Johnny: Faith's boyfriend and their little brother.

The gang maintained their 'Shit – Happens – Get – Over – It' attitude all throughout this whole thing and I was thankful for that. It made things easier to get through. Especially Faith…everything was easy around Faith. She was always there for me. That year was hardest on her because she had to put up with my complaining about physical therapy and how I hated that assholes were always all over her. She'd always talk it out with me, and by the end of the night we'd end up talking about the future.

Faith and I planned to get through high school, go to college because we'd be forced to and get married. Actually, even if the other things didn't happen we still planned on getting married. Nothing was going to stop that. I loved Faith and she loved me. That's the way it was and neither of us wanted it differently. Our love had grown stronger over the last year…and lately it's gotten so intense and passionate that both of us knew what was close to happening.

I didn't want to rush Faith into having sex and I didn't want her to do anything she wasn't ready for, but it was so hard to keep myself from throwing Faith on the bed and taking her virginity. Every time I held her in my arms (which by the way I'd found out all the other guys in the gang had done – I didn't mind Two-Bit or Pony, but Soda was a little too much) I could picture myself undressing her slowly and causing shivers to go up and down her spine and goose bumps to sprout all over. It was hard not to!

Now that we're 'at that age', we're both a little more active and spend longer nights together, never giving in to temptation but always getting really close. Actually, at the moment we were (this is ironic) home alone at Faith's and making our on her bed.

The room was very dimly lit, the shades were drawn and Faith was moaning as I sucked at a spot on her neck. It seemed like every other night we spent together at first, but then Faith started losing control and laid me on my back while straddling me. My hands rested on her hips as we continued to kiss, but then made their way up to the hem of her shirt. My hands stayed there for a minute, playing with the hem until Faith started pulling at my shirt. Then my hands slid under her shirt and up along her soft, smooth skin up to her bra clasp.

Knowing that, even though we've been here before, tonight was different and that we'd go all the way, I pulled away from Faith and asked, "Are you sure you're ready? We can wait."

She breathing very heavily now and her response was a very breathy, "Yes." Her eyes, full of love and lust, glittered in the soft light as we went back to what we were doing.

A few minutes later, I had her on her back and she was removing my undershirt and throwing it on the floor where our shirts and her bra lay.

(A/N: Seen skipped due to regulations. Don't worry nothing relevant to the rest fo the story takes place during that scene.)

We lay on the bed, out of breath and covered in a thin sheen of sweat, just having gone through with the act of making love and getting as close as we can get. We'd become one.

Faith's head lay on my shoulder and her arm was wrapped across my front as she caught her breath and looked as though she were glowing. It wasn't the sweat that made her look like she was glowing, but the fact that she was extremely happy and at peace.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," I said, not being able to stop smiling.

I just watched her until she fell asleep and then I fell asleep, feeling content and relaxed.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it and I'll get to typing up thelast chapter now. I don't know when I'll have it up but you can be sure that I'll try for sooner rather than later. Alright, I g2g. Abrazos y besos a todos y que tengan buen noche. **

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	10. Dreams Do Come True

**To everyone who reviewed and anyone who might still be reading this (if you are, you must really like this story): I'm glad to say that I've finally updated after such a LONG ASS TIME, but I'm sad to say that it is the last chapter of this fanfiction. For those of you who stuck by me and kept bugging me to update: thanks a lot. I'm glad you liked it so much and ui hope you enjoy my little ending. Once again: thanks and enjoy. **

Ch.9 – Dreams Do Come True

_**Dally's POV** _

"Okay, I'll see you there, sweetie," I said before hanging up the phone.

I'd just made plans to meet my girlfriend at the Tasty Freeze and was now heading towards Faith's room to ask her for the ring she'd been keeping safe for me. Halfway there, Steve came out of nowhere and tackled me into Two-bit's bedroom and asked, "Whatcha doin'?"

I pushed him off me and said, "I'm lookin' for Faithy…. You seen her?"

"Ummm…she went in there after we left last night. I think Johnny followed her in," he said, gesturing to Faith's room with a hyperactive look and a mischievous grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Dude, d'you think they – you know…. Huh, do ya?"

I gave him a suspicious look, wondering why he looked so hyper and then said, "You found the pixie stix, didn't you? The blue ones, huh?"

He nodded really quickly and then began laughing uncontrollably.

I rolled my eyes and stalked out of Two-Bit's room and down the hall to Faith's room, followed all the way by an hysterically laughing Steve. I turned the knob, but stopped before I opened the door to consider what Steve had suggested went on in there. I chuckled at the idea and went on in. I stopped short at the sight of Faith laying in Johnny's arms – both naked, mind you – under the covers, which caused Steve to bound right into me and fall on his ass.

"Dude! What the fuck? Lemme see! Are they doin' it now? Dude, _move_! Lemme see!" he whined, trying to jump over me to see Faith and Johnny.

I smirked after the shock subsided and said, "Go, Johnny! Little man got laid last night."

"What? Last night? Shit! That mean I'm too late to join in," Steve said, quitting the attempt to jump over me and used his common sense to walk around me.

Still smirking, I walked over to Faith's side and tapped her on her shoulder, gently but hard enough to wake her. "Wakey, wakey, little lady," I said in her ear as I grabbed her robe from the bedpost. I admit that Faith is a really pretty girl and the last year worked miracles on how her figure affected my reaction toward her body, but the fact that she was Johnny's girl and Two-Bit's baby sister kept me from wanting to see her naked. Also the fact that I had a girlfriend, who I was about to propose to, helped me to keep away from temptation.

She stirred, groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She turned her head slightly to face me and, still looking like she was asleep said, "Dally? Dally!" She pulled the covers up to cover her ample breasts and sat up, eyes wide open in shock. "Uh…uh… umm, Dally, what happened was…." She struggled with words as I smirked and Steve danced around the room, chanting, "Faith's not a virgin! Faith's not a virgin!"

"Shut up, Steve. Faith, look, I love you and all and right now the only thing that's keeping me from strangling' Johnny is the fact that you're naked. So I won't tell Two-Bit and _I_ won't kill either of you, but only on one condition."

"Name it," she said, skillfully grabbing the robe I handed her and slipping it on without removing the covers from her chest.

"The ring…. Where is it?"

"Today? Oh my God! Dally! Oh my God! You're proposing _today_? Oh my God!" Faith had turned into such a girly girl. She was waving her hands around like a mad woman and then she jumped out of bed without waking Johnny, and dug through a drawer. She'd extracted a velvet box a minute later and then opened it to smile gleefully at the fourteen karat gold band with the skillfully cut diamond that lay atop it. It had cost me a fortune and I had to work two double shift jobs to afford it, but my girl was worth it. "Dally, I'm so happy for you," said Faith, handing me the box and planting a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks…. You think she'll say 'yes'?"

Faith tilted her head, smiled and said, "I _know_ she will. She loves you, Dally, and no matter what stands in the way, I know you two will end up married."

I smiled and said, "Yeah…."

Steve had stopped dancing around and was now standing next to me with a look of utter shock on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, standing up and pocketing the velvet box.

"Dude, you're proposing to Sh-," he began but was cut short when Johnny began to stir and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

I nodded and then turned to Johnny, smirking. "Hey, little man, get a good night's sleep?"

He looked up and, though you could barely see it because of his dark skin, blushed, as did Faith as she sat back down on the bed and kissed Johnny good morning.

I smiled at them and said, "You two are cute…. Listen, I'd stay longer and tease ya both, but I gotta leave that to Steve because I gotta go meet my girl and propose."

"Good luck they all chorused as I left and Steve jumped onto the bed, singing (once again), "Faith's not a virgin! Faith's not a virgin! Johnny took it away!"

_**Two-Bit's POV** _

I didn't get crocked last night, but I woke up with a headache. Maybe it was the loud music. I didn't know, I just wanted to take some Tylenol. Then I remembered that Faith had them last so I went into her room. Hehehehehe! Dude, the last thing you wanna see when you have a headache is your baby sister sitting next to her boyfriend on the bed, she in only a robe and he stark naked.

Though my mind warned me not to and my body did too because my headache would get worse, I yelled. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Faith! Johnny!"

They both froze, like deer in headlights, and gave me a fearful look.

I didn't notice it until Faith helped me to sit and calm down, but I was shaking. I had every right to shake and be, not _angry_ per se, but shocked. I mean, I _had_ the bright to be angry, but because it was Johnny and not some guy off the street, I wasn't. Though it was hard not to be because MY BABY SISTER JUST LOST HER VIRGINITY AT AGE FIFTEEN!

"Mickey, before you flip full force, take minute to think about the situation. Do you _really_ thing _you_ would've done different? I doubt it. When you're in love, you're in love. There's nothing you can do to stop it. You and the gang should know that."

I calmed down a little and acknowledged that she was right. I know how love can make you do things… crazy things. I mean, Marcia and I…we did…_things_ because we were in love. Sure, there's a risk of her getting pregnant, but that's okay because I'd be there for her. If she ever got pregnant, I'd have to work countless jobs, but I'd be there for her…that's how a future husband and husband should act.

Johnny was pulling a shirt over his head and Faith was still clasping my hands and looking me in the eyes with a fearful but determined look.

"Alright, I won't flip, but _be careful_. Marcia and I can barely handle thinking about if she got pregnant and _we're_ gonna get married. Imagine the two of you. You two are still babies…well at least in a sense you are."

Faith laughed and hugged me. When she did, it felt different. It still held the love she had for me, but it felt like something was missing. When I used to hug her, she used to be so…I don't know…innocent…and now that's gone. It bothered me a little, but seeing how happy she was eased me into accepting it.

"Where's the Tylenol? Last night was murder on my head."

"What'd you guys do?"

"We just played poker last night with Tim and his boys and then we left with Darry because Pony's sick again, but I went to a bar to just hang out…. They're going to take Pony to a doctor today. He might be coming down with the flu or something."

"Oh shit. He's gonna be hallucinating again," said Johnny, now fully dressed and applying grease to his hair. It'd grown back nicely over the last year.

Faith got up and went to the bathroom.

I took my chance. "Johnny, look. I don't wanna look like the overprotective older brother, … but…well, you now I love Faith with all my heart and I want her to be happy…."

"Yeah…. I know…. Two-Bit, I ain't never gonna hurt her. I love her, too. You know I plan on marrying her…making her happy…forever," he said.

I nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. It's just…hard. I raised her and she's always been able to tell me anything and now she can't even tell me that she's ready for a sex life, she just goes ahead an does it." That's what bothered me. Faith didn't even tell me that she was ready and willing to give herself to Johnny. "But I guess she's old enough to decide on her own."

"Yeah, she is…but still, she shoulda at least coddled you about it," Johnny said, jokingly.

I laughed as Faith returned and gave me the Tylenol, soon followed by Steve, who apparently was on a sugar high. He pulled out a bunch of Pixie Stix (blue) and poured them on the bed, picking one up, opening it and swallowing the sugar.

_Note to self: Never _EVER_ give Steve any Pixie Stix…especially the blue ones._

I chuckled and left them to take the Tylenol. I could hear the three of them in there, having a pillow fight. Then about ten minutes later I went back in and told them (Steve and Faith) to get ready so the four of us can go out to eat.

We went down to the Tasty Freeze and there we ran into Dally and his girlfriend of a year, Sherry or Cherry.

_**Faith's POV** _

Don't ever judge a book by its cover. Johnny may have been really skinny, and had hardly any muscle build (he'd gained some during physical therapy and is working on more), but he's had practice in _that_ area of expertise.

I hid it very well, but I could barely stand on my own two feet. My knees would wobble, my spine would quiver and I'd want to sit down. When I told Johnny this, after Steve and Two-Bit left the room, he smirked and said, "You sure I didn't hurt you?" He then kissed me and, had it not been for Steve coming back in to get his Pixie Stix, there would've been a repeat of last night.

All the way to the Tasty Freeze (they don't sell only ice cream), Johnny and I walked arm in arm, feeling closer than ever. I felt like I now knew everything there was to know about Johnny…well, maybe not everything, but enough to carry us into marriage and then we'll learn more and more about each other. Maybe, to everyone else, it seemed a little bit too soon to be even considering thinking about marriage, but to Johnny and I…it was already years to late.

We didn't know how we were going to live or what we were going to live off of but we knew that our lives would soon become one…right after high school. The most we'd thought of was to get jobs, so that we could earn enough money to support a family or at least get us through college. We still haven't thought about careers or who'd take care of the kids when we were at work. Actually, neither have Two-Bit and Marcia or Soda and Diane or Julia and Chris or Natalie and Steve or _even_ Darry and Angel and Darry's usually anal retentive about this stuff. I guess we all just think better when we're under pressure and that's why we wait to tackle things as they come at us, not before hand…like the future: we think about it but we don't plan to handle it yet. Some people call us stupid, but others say we're geniuses for keeping calm, cool and collected.

We walked into the Tasty Freeze just as Dally took hold of Sherry 'Cherry" Valance's hand and pulled out the small velvet box.

The four of us (Steve, Two-Bit, Johnny and I) took a seat and looked on at what took place in front of us.

Cherry watched Dally kneel on one knee with a confused look on her delicate features. "Dally, wh-?"

"Shh…just listen…. Cherry, we've been together for a year now and I've loved you from the very beginning of our relationship and before that too. Remember how we met? That night at the Nightly Double when you dumped the Coke on me?"

Cherry laughed, already near tears and nodded. "Yeah…."

"Later that night, you told Ponyboy that you hoped to never see me again because if you did you'd prolly fall in love with me. I _know_ you have. You've proven it everyday of this relationship. I want you to know that I love you too…and I wanna keep loving you." He opened the small velvet box, revealing the gorgeous ring and all at once hushing the entire restaurant. "Sherry "Cherry" Elaine Valance, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Cherry, face tear streaked and eyes still flooded with tears, jumped up and pulled Dally up with her all the while squeaking and saying, "Yes! Yes, Dallas Winston, I will!"

Dally scooped her up and spun around, like in the old romantic movies, as everyone in the restaurant cheered, clapped and whistled…which was kind of scary because we didn't know half of those people. The both of them walked over to us, sat down and ordered our food.

Don't ask me why or what made me feel like this, but I _knew_ that everything that'd happened last year was just a bad memory and things from now on would go smoothly, like a dream come true…like an old movie….

The last three years of high school were _NOTHING_ compared to five years of college to earn a degree. It was hard, but Johnny, Pony, my girls and I made it. Eight long years of education and cramming for tests and we _finally_ made it. When it was all over, it felt really scary to have the whole world laid in front of you to choose wisely from. It felt scary being ripped from the security of 'I have four more years…three…two…one more year of school left and I don't have to worry.' It was scary and sad all at once. I mean, yeah we'd all still be together and see each other everyday, but it's sad knowing that we're no longer kids and no longer making our way through childish high school drama, discussing the future…discussing, but never planning (except for the marriage part). It was sad letting go of a time when I could sit in a classroom, making eyes at Johnny without getting caught by the teacher and still somehow manage to pass with flying colors. To spare you an even longer sob story – it was sad leaving high school and then college and moving onto a new life. But it _was_ exciting starting a new life.

Johnny and I had gotten married two years into college, one to two years after everyone else (Pony met a girl the first year of college and instantly fell in love with her. Her name for future reference is Maryanne) had gotten married. Johnny was a wonderful husband. He was attentive and helpful with things around the house. We still lived at my childhood home for a while because my mom had left it to Two-Bit in her last will and testament, so until we could stand up on our own two feet we stayed there. Anyway, Johnny and I had purchased a queen sized bed for my room, and though it was used a _lot_, never was it used because one of us pressured the other one into using it. (A/N: How confusing is that sentence?)

There'd been some pregnancy scares, but each time Johnny had assured me that everything would be okay and that it'll all keep going the same way until I had the baby and we both had to give up our scholarships. But after the first two times we decided to use protection and the next three years flew by and now, two months after graduating from college, we were all sitting in the Curtis's kitchen.

"How 'bout Lisa-Marie or Pricilla?" asked Steve as he peeled an orange for a very pregnant Natalie.

She took the section he handed her and sarcastically said, "Yeah and if it's a boy we could name him Elvis."

"Uh-oh, here comes another one," said Steve finishing the orange.

"How do you know I didn't want that? How come you keep assuming things? Don't you know that when you assume things you make an ass out of you and me? I can't believe you think I'm an ass!" said Natalie, being moved by a mood swing and bursting into tears.

I watched interestedly, wondering how Steve was going to handle this one, and accepted the apple slice Johnny handed me.

"Johnny, can you teach my jackass of a husband to be a good husband like you?" asked Natalie.

Johnny chuckled but said nothing, turning to me and engaging me in a conversation about our baby's sex and possible names. "What about you? What names do you want?"

Still chewing on the apple, I turned excitedly to him and said, "Well, if it's a girl I want Jaline and if it's a boy I want either Riley or Hayden."

_**Johnny's POV** _

She was so beautiful. You know how people say that women glow when they're pregnant? Well, she really was glowing. She was always smiling and now that her pregnancy was starting to really show a lot, she was always sitting somewhere and reading to our unborn child. She now had the soft 'mommy' look about her. She always wore her knee length hair down or in a loose ponytail and, unlike some women, maternity clothes looked really nice on her. I knew that in the very near future, after nine longs months, our child would have a sibling.

I really couldn't wait for our child to be born. From the moment that I found out that Faith was pregnant (along with all the other girls) and for the last nine months, feeling the future soccer star kicking in her womb, I've been excited and preparing to welcome a child into this world. I wanted this child so badly and so did Faith, so we prepared early for him/her. We'd just bought a house of our own (working as architects finally came in handy when the other side of town went under construction) and we were all moved in and the baby's room was all set. Since we still didn't know the baby's gender, we painted the room in a sky pattern, each wall reflecting a stage in the day. We bought a crib in white and lots of clothes in many colors and patterns for the baby. The first time I saw one of those tiny shirts, I couldn't believe anyone could ever be so small. That's when I realized how helpless and innocent this child would be, and that's when I decided that I'd make it my official duty to do whatever I could to make this child happy.

This child meant everything to me. It was my offspring. It was me, only smaller. There was no guarantee that the baby would be boy, but I really wanted it to be. I wanted a son. But don't get me wrong: if it's a girl, I'll love her just the same. She'd be my little girl, whom I'd protect from every bad thing out there: rape, prostitution, seduction and boys…all boys. She wouldn't be getting a date until she's at least thirty-five in my book. Okay, that's overdoing it, I know, but my little girl will be too good for any boy out there. No one will ever be good enough for her. My son will also be to good for all the girls out there.

Whatever the case may be, my child will be protected and loved and cared for by both Faith and I. No harm will ever befall our child...and most of all: our child will never go through the horrible things the gang and everyone in it had to go through. Since things were almost mostly cleared up with the Socs of our generation, there weren't as many rumbles but a new generation was arising and history was bound to repeat itself. If it does, that'd be okay because a lot of good things happened in the past too. My only major worry was the war and the draft rumored to be starting. (A/N: Not sure if there really was a war at this time, but bear with me. I really like this scene and don't want to cut it.) That really scared me because the next generation would need the gang (all parents now) as much as the gang needed each other and being thrown out to war was dangerous…it would tear us apart. _I_ couldn't go because of my back injury, but the other guys were healthy and able to fight on the front line.

"Good names," I said, cutting her another slice of the apple.

She nibbled it happily and then jumped a little. "Oh my God! It's kicking!"

"What? Lemme feel," said Two-Bit, getting up and reaching for Faith's belly. A look of awe and mesmeric thought came over him. "You've got a soccer player here, Minnie," he said, getting up and kissing his sister's forehead.

Natalie's mood swing had subsided and she was now kissing Steve. He began nuzzling her neck, but she stopped him and said, "Wait for the first one to be born and then we'll work on the second one, okay?"

"Dude, where the hell did we get all this fruit?" Dally asked no one in particular as he fed Cherry a cherry. (A/N: J)

"Oh, my boss said that he knew what it was like for pregnant women and that fruit calms them, so he sent out eight baskets," said Maryanne, eating a peach.

"Thank him for us," said Darry from the counter, slicing up some honeydew and every now and then handing Angel a slice.

"Yeah tell him the fruit has done wonders for my bust size," said Sodapop, showing off his round breast, which were oranges under his shirt.

Faith, laughing hysterically, got up and answered a knock at the door. "Yes?" she asked, getting a confused look on her face. (A/N: Those of you who actually know how drafting works in real life: don't hate me for this, but I really don't know how this works at least not completely. So just bear with me once more and enjoy the scene.)

"I'm here to draft Misters Curtis, Curtis, Curtis, Randle, Matthews and Shinning, first names being Darrel, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Steven, Keith and Christopher. They're needed at war," said the fully medalled soldier, taking off his hat.

"Please, uh, come in," said Faith, letting the soldier pass through.

I'm not going to bore you with everything that happened, but I will tell you that those six men broke the world record for lying. Apparently Darry was Soda and Pony's caretaker because they were mentally retarded and Steve was schizophrenic. Two-Bit had muscle spasms and Chris was with AA. The only reason the soldier even believed the story was because Soda was still walking around with the oranges under his shirt and he kept asking if anyone had a bra so he could put his hands down.

Darry asked the soldier if needed to see any medical records of the guys' conditions. But the soldier said that he didn't and hurried out the door. He'd hesitated for a minute on the front lawn. But when Soda went running out there, now with honeydews under his shirt, and asked him if he had a bra, the soldier hurried away.

Soda came back, hysterically laughing and put back the honeydews. He then sat down next to his wife, Diane, and stared at her chest.

"What're you lookin' at?" she asked, popping a grape into her mouth.

"That's the _best_ part about the changes a woman goes through during pregnancy…bigger boobs!" he said, laughing and then returning to normal and serene Soda and kissing his wife.

Faith smiled and went to the bathroom, muttering something about wondering why she even got off the toilet. A minute later there was a shriek and I heard, "Johnny! Get in here!"

In a split second I was in the bathroom with Faith, almost slipping on the amniotic fluid that signaled the breaking of Faith's water.

I looked from the fluid to her fear stricken face and then said, "C'mon. Hospital. _NOW_!"

_**Fifteen Minutes Later** _

We were all at the hospital now, with all the girls because right after Faith's water broke, it went like dominoes with all the other girls. We were waiting for them to go into actual labor and then it hit me.

I was going to be a daddy! My baby was comin! I was going to be a daddy!

Five minutes later, the girls were moved from the room they were in to the delivery room, all screaming for their husbands. Now, I may not be an expert at this, but if your wife is pregnant and going into delivery and she screams for you, you're supposed to get your ass next to her in a split second.

In the delivery room it was just a scream hole! Eight freaking women giving birth, all in one room was not a good thing to hear. It sounded like banshees had been shot and were dying.

Faith was the only one trying to keep from screaming, but she couldn't because it was obviously just that painful.

"Push! Push, Faith, push!" instructed the doctor, who was a little too close for comfort to my wife. I didn't say anything because he was the man who'd bring my baby into the world. "Push! C'mon! One more big push…and here is your baby girl. Nurse! Oh shit! Here comes another one!"

"What!" both Faith and I said in shock right before the doctor instructed Faith to push again.

Faith was the only one left in labor because the other girls had fast deliveries and only one baby.

A minute later, the doctor said, "Congratulations! You have a son. You also fraternal twins…. Damn you must've gotten freaky."

After the nurses had gotten every baby cleaned up, they brought us all our babies and went to rest. They had the rest of the day ahead of them

Faith and I took turns with each baby and the others took turns with their babies. They discussed names for their babies.

"How 'bout Jason?" Two-Bit asked Marcia, admiring his son.

"Yeah…I like it…. Jason Keith Matthews," said Marcia softly.

'Let's name him…Richie," said Soda to Diane as he let his son play with his pinky finger. "Richard Pepsi Cola Curtis."

"It fits," said Diane, eyes agleam in happiness.

"Hey, little dude. How ya doin'? I'm your daddy and this is your mommy…. Julia, how does Matthew sound to you?"

"Hmmm…Matthew Gerard Shinning. It's good. I like it."

Maryanne played with her son's hands and said, "Hi, Brian, hi…."

"Brian Thomas Curtis…. Sounds good," said Ponyboy.

"Please not Elvis, Steve…. We can name him after his twin: Jesse."

"Yeah…. Jesse Neil Randle…. I'm liking your style, Nat," Steve said, smiling at their son.

Darry and Angel stared admiringly at their son and in unison said, "Jamie…James Michael Curtis."

"Danny…Daniel Anthony Winston…. What d'you think?"

Cherry smiled at Dally and said, "You've been thinking about this haven't you? It's good…. It fits."

Faith looked up at me, holding our son, and asked, "Take your pick: Riley or Hayden?"

I thought for a minute and wondered which one sounded like a stronger name. "Riley…Riley Jonathan Cade…. What about dudette here?" I asked, fixing my little girl in the crook of my arm and supporting her head.

"Jaline…. Sound good?"

"Beautiful…. Jaline Christine Cade…. We might as well have named her after you because you two share to names: middle and last."

"True…. Jaline Christine Cade…. I like it."

"Uh…. Did you guys notice something?" asked Dally, handing Danny to Cherry and walking over to admire Jaline. "Baby girl Cade here is the _only_ girl…. Is this what people mean when they say history repeats itself? Dude, that's weird: Faith being the only girl in our generation and Jaline the only one in hers."

Everyone laughed and went back to admiring their children. The first thing Faith noticed about our kids was they had a mix of eyes and hair. Their hair wavy and light brown with some streaks of black. Their eyes were a shiny hazel/green and looked like cat eyes (A/N: Like my eyes.) They were, no doubt about it, going to grow up to be good-looking kids…greaser kids…just like the gang. History does after all repeat itself. Maybe they'll go through all the hell we went through whether we like it or not, but if that means they can experience this moment too, then I'm okay with it. I had a feeling the gang was okay with it too as they looked at their future selves and wondered what adventures would come their way. Whatever it was, we knew they'd handle it together…like we did.

**Hey, I hope you enjoyed it. Now if you're really sad to see me go, just go to one of my other stories and read them and do there what Im about to tell you to do here: leave a review as you leave. It's been a long ass fanfiction, but well worth it (I think) and i'm gladd all of you reviewers liked it so much. Thanks again. See ya!**

**1, **

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	11. Sequel

Faithful Faith Update

THE SEQUEL IS UP, YOU GUYS! IF YOU'RE STILL INTERESTED, OF COURSE, GO AND FIND IT IN MY PROFILE. IT'S CALLED _JUXTAPOSITIONS: JUST A STORY_.

ENJOY!


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